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ABSTRACT
Nationally representative surveys of food intake in U.S. children show large increases in snacking between the 1989-91 to 1994-98 and 1994-98 to 2003-06 periods. Childhood snacking trends are moving toward three snacks per day, and more than 27 percent of children's daily calories are coming from snacks. The largest increases have been in salty snacks and candy. Desserts and sweetened beverages remain the major sources of calories from snacks.
There has been little systematic examination of recent eating patterns and longer-term trends, including those for childhood snacking. The rise of childhood obesity coincides with a reported increase in daily snacking and a decline in the consumption of three principal meals. Population-based studies show increased food consumption related to the snacking habit.1,2 More frequent snacking has been positively associated with body weight in children.1 Other epidemiological and intervention studies in children and adolescents have linked a more even distribution of food consumed throughout the day with lower body mass index (BMI).1,3,4 Most cross-sectional studies, after adjusting for body weight, have found that obese children do not eat more than lean children.5
Snacks are readily available to all children and adolescents in several environments,6 and energy-dense snacks have been linked with a decreased satiating (feeling of fullness) effect7,8 Greater intake of salty snacks and sweetened caloric beverages and increased portion sizes of snacks have been observed as potential contributors to daily food consumption.910 Consequently, these may play an important role in childhood obesity. This study is focused on more recent dynamics of snacking in all of its dimensions.
In this study, current snacking patterns and key foods consumed during childhood were examined along with long-term trends in snacking behavior across four nationally representative surveys of food intake in U.S. children over the past three decades. Among our most important findings is an increase in the number of snacking events in the past decade. The largest increases in snacking events have been in salty snack and candy consumption; however, desserts and sweetened beverages remain the major sources of calories from snacks.
Study Data And Methods
SURVEY DESIGN AND SAMPLE We selected 31,337 children and adolescents, ages 2-18, from four nationally representative surveys of food intake in the U.S. population: 12,231 respondents from the 1977-1978 Nationwide Food...