In the seminar ‘Snacking among Children: Essential or Excessive?’ Dr. Jennifer Fisher shared her research on snacking among children and the factors that influence this behavior. She explained that snacking has been increasing among children since the 1970’s and is now accounting for a substantial portion of their daily energy intake. While the prevailing wisdom in this field is that snacking is healthy, even essential for children in order to meet energy demands of growth and development, Dr. Fisher’s research indicates the need for a better understanding of this behavior before we deem it such.
Dr. Fisher’s research focuses on factors that interact to influence snacking; parenting, the child’s appetite, food and nutrient intakes, and obesity. While she discussed each factor briefly, her research on parenting was most fascinating. In this area, Dr. Fisher seeks to understand parental definitions, goals, and practices related to snacking. Her findings indicate that the definition of snacking is extremely variable and is dependent on factors such as time of day, type of food being offered, and context in which the food is given. Some of her research shows that parents think of ‘snacks’ and ‘meals’ as distinct with ‘snacks’ being foods that require less preparation, offer less nutritional value and balance. Conversely, parents perceived ‘meals’ as time for making memories and connecting with their child.
According to the research, parents also cite a variety of reasons for offering snacks to their children that range from providing nourishment to using snacks as a reward for good behavior or incentive to change bad behavior. One of Dr. Fisher’s more recent studies indicated that the nutritional value of the snack depended on the reason it was being offered. For example, when parents offered a snack for reasons other than providing nutrition for their child, such as to control bad behavior, that snack tended to contain more solid fats and added sugars than a snack that was given because the child was hungry.
Although most of Dr. Fisher’s research is cross-sectional, the relationships between factors related to snacking and the possible health implications are evident. Her findings demonstrate the need for reevaluation of public health guidelines that promote snacking for young children. Improved guidelines may do more to inform parents of the role snacks play in a child’s overall diet, appropriate purposes for offering snacks and how to choose snacks based on nutritional quality. Further, before we can recommend snacking as a public health practice for children, we need much more information on the various factors that impact this behavior.
Until the research on this subject advances, practitioners should do their best to continue educating parents on appropriate foods to offer children both during meals and as snacks. It is also important to promote strategies that help parents understand the role of snacks as part of their child’s overall diet and nutrient intake. Developing one-pagers or brochures on these topics might a way to provide this information to parents, patients and consumers in an easily accessible manner.