Is Children’s Snacking Quietly Getting Out Of Hand?

A divisive discussion thread about supposed “constant feeding” and “snacking” among children has garnered hundreds of comments on Mumsnet.

One user shared that they’d been at a swimming lesson (presumably watching their child), while sat next to two children who they described as “chomping their way through a packet of crisps and a packet of chocolate biscuits at 4pm”.

“We had a day out with friends on Tuesday at a farm park and kids are being handed food every five minutes,” they added.

“You go down the street and everywhere you look the toddlers in buggies have their little hands stuffed in packets of puffs or gripping a biscuit. It’s no wonder we have such chubby children everywhere.”

Asking other Mumsnet users if they were being “unreasonable” for bringing this up, 41% agreed they were, while 59% said they weren’t.

One commenter said: “This completely winds me up. I’m with you OP [original poster]. The snack culture in this country is doing everyone a huge disservice.”

But another parent couldn’t quite understand what the issue was: “I thought it was normal to give your children a snack, we do fruit/crackers/oatcakes/yogurt/veg sticks and hummus mid morning, mid afternoon and sometimes before bed. I also like a snack. We also all eat normal meals.”

A new “Great British Snacking Crisis” report from Imaginakery found that children ask for almost four snacks every day, on average. For one in five (20% of) parents, the snack requests start as early as before 8am.

Of those polled, one in 10 said they never refuse snack requests from their children, while nearly three-quarters (72%) said they are unlikely to refuse more than five requests in a day.

Baby and child nutritionist Charlotte Stirling-Reed told HuffPost UK some of the comments shared online around children’s snacking are “harsh” and “unfair”. That said, she does believe “we have become a hugely snack-dominated culture”.

She mentioned supermarket aisles, where processed snacks are commonly marketed towards young babies and toddlers. “Snacks under 12 months are not recommended at all,” she said. “But actually, right from that age and above we have become a hugely snack-driven culture.”

Off the back of a Panorama investigation into baby food pouches which lacked key nutrients, the BBC previously shared how there’s also been a “rise in sales of snacks like fruit and vegetable-based straws, puffs and wafers”.

This led former chief nutritionist to the government, Dr Alison Tedstone, to remark: “Companies are dressing these products up as being healthy, when actually they’re much like a crisp or a sweetie. They’re putting profit before health.”

Stirling-Reed understands why parents turn to snacks and highlights that “parenting is tough”. She’s right – many of us are time-starved, dashing from A to B and simply trying to keep our kids happy, satiated and any “hanger” at bay.

But often snacks are being used for reasons other than hunger or offering nutrients and balance, she claimed, suggesting parents use them to pacify, bribe, entertain or distract.

“We’re not necessarily using them for the reason we should be using snacks,” she added.

“I think a lot of parents aren’t trying to do this wrong, I think they’re actually struggling with the advertising of snacks that are available – with the bombardment that you get when you go to a supermarket or a petrol station.”

The NHS advises families that fruit and vegetable snacks are “always the best choice” for children, but if they are having packaged snacks “aim for two a day max”.

Imaginakery’s report found biscuits (69%), chocolate (59%) and crisps (57%) top the rankings for the snacks most frequently consumed by kids.

These all fall under ultra-processed foods, or UPFs, which have been linked to everything from gut disruption to “hedonistic hunger” (eating for pleasure or comfort). These snacks are typically nutritionally poor, calorie-dense, and easy to eat quickly.

Stirling-Reed said she doesn’t want parents to feel shamed as messaging around snacking is “confusing”, but claims that how parents are using snacks at the moment “is not how they’re meant to be used”.

She explained that some children are “grazing” on food throughout the day “which means they’re not really having much of an appetite for their mealtime”.

“They’re not learning ‘am I hungry?’, ‘am I not hungry?’,” she continued. “And then, they often get to those mealtimes – it might be lunch, it might be dinner – with very little in the way of an appetite”.

This can then result in children skipping meals (or not eating much of them) – and therefore missing out on important nutrition – because they simply aren’t hungry.

“It’s not helping children with their relationship with food, with their appetite, with getting the right amount of nutrients and the right balance in, with eating those evening meals that we spend our time creating,” the nutritionist said.

If you’re thinking of overhauling your snack system at home, it might be worth readdressing what a snack actually is. The nutritionist suggested they should be “mini meals” (check out some ideas here) that are “balanced, so we’re trying to get some of those food groups in”. These are fruit and veg, carbohydrates, dairy, proteins, fats and oils.

We should also be trying to address important nutrients like iron, protein, zinc, fibre and omega-3 in our snacks as well, she added.

“But they also should be timed, so we should know they’re happening at certain times through the day,” the expert continued.

“It might be between breakfast and lunch, or between lunch and dinner, and it should be a mini top-up to help them get through to the next meal, rather than what we are currently using snacks for.”

As for processed snacks aimed at babies and toddlers, Stirling-Reed added: “I’m not saying never, ever offer them – of course that’s not realistic. But actually, people relying on them as snacks most of the time is not going to be helpful.”

Nutritionist Dr Emma Derbyshire, who is working with Imaginakery, said children mimic their parents’ actions, so parents can encourage healty snacking habits by regularly eating healthy snacks with their children.

She added that it’s worth appealing to their inquisitive sides by giving them the chance to get involved with washing, peeling or chopping fresh fruit and vegetables. Growing your own produce can also help keep them engaged and interested.

Some parents swear by leaving out “veggie plates” an hour or so before dinner, which are filled with chopped veggies like peppers, cucumber and carrots.

It’s also worth considering which snacks you have readily lying around your home.

“If children see unhealthy snacks lying around, they become accustomed to these products feeling like the norm for snacking,” said Dr Derbyshire.

“Keep healthy snacks at eye level on counters, in fridges and in cupboards, while unhealthy treats should be stored out of reach and view.”