Why are there more eating opportunities for kids now than in the past?

100df wrote: »

I wonder if all the extra opportunities lead children to being overweight adults because they are conditioned to always having something to eat. Do they even know what hungry feels like?

I am early 30s and while some other folks have posted snacks were common when they were kids, they weren't for me (maybe depends on where you grew up, affluence, social norms). My parents were both overweight and anti-snack. I remember being hungry SO MUCH when I was a kid. Lunch was usually a sandwich, a fruit, a small dessert, and a small milk. And that never felt like enough. I was hungry before lunch, and the worst was coming home I was STARVING. My parents didn't want us snacking before dinner so it was just waiting until dinner was made. We had some type of snack food, but that was the dessert item in our lunches, so was only allowed to be eaten for lunch. I don't think the food was inadequate so I don't know why I remember being hungry so much.

I was not overweight as a child, but became overweight towards the end of high school, and then more seriously towards the end of college. In a way, my parents' training worked. As an adult, I am not much of a snacker. But I am obese and suffer from some binge eating issues. I am sure there are a TON of factors that go into that, but I don't think not having snacks pushed on me was an effective deterrence to not becoming obese.

Maybe it's something that's more common in America. I think there are more opportunities for everyone to snack now but when I was at school it was more things like Orange quarters after sports activities! Jugs of water or the water fountain. I'm UK based.

stealthq wrote: »

DorkothyParker wrote: »

Does it matter if a child eats meals or snacks?
It seems meal times are cultural, not necessarily health-based. Some adults do very well with IF and some better with grazing.

I think it's better to offer healthy food free range for whenever my daughter will eat it than to try to force her into some arbitrary standard of consumption. At the end of the day, it's the same food as she would have eaten in three separate meal times, but in 7 or 8 instead.

So sugary junk and juice aside, for children, does frequency matter or is it individualized as with adults?

Oh and to add, isn't telling a kid "You eat lunch at noon and if you don't, there is no food until 3" going to encourage them to eat even if not hungry so that they don't get hungry waiting for the next meal or snack time? Isn't that the opposite of healthful eating?

If they're not hungry enough to eat lunch, they shouldn't be hungry enough to need a snack if the next meal is in a reasonable amount of time. If a kid turns their nose up at meals frequently because they're not hungry from snacking, I figure it's time to limit or eliminate snacks. Or, make the snacks proper mini-meals so the kid is getting proper nutrition. The timing and frequency isn't so important other than for convenience.

This. Could the idea that many people can't stand to be a little hungry is why 70% of the population is overweight/obese?

I always snacked as a kid and was rail thin until I intentionally tried to put on weight after high school. Working with the school system as a yard duty monitor now, I really don't see any difference from when I grew up to now, with the exception of how kids show a lot of disrespect to authority than when I was growing up.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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I don't know if kids snack more now but the snack foods seem to have switched to convenience foods which are less nutritious and healthful IMO....Very generally speaking. Plus snacks seem to be more organized and "sanctioned" than they used to be.

For example, I remember getting orange slices at half time of our soccer games as a kid; nothing at practices. I have been coaching youth soccer over the last 10 years and snacks are at every game and practice, and often consist of a juic box and yogurt tube, package of some gummy candy, or a candy/granola bar. Practices are right after dinner! This is a firmly middleclass area and the kids are all fed. They don't need the snacks already, and they definitely don't NEED candy.

I was coaching basketball this winter and I was battling with a mother who insisted on giving candy to her son at half time, and was trying to give them to the rest of the team because they had been on court for 10-15 minutes. LOL These are 11-13 year old boys. It seemed goofy.

All that being said, my kids snack. A LOT. They homeschool so they can eat when they are hungry. They snack but it is more like mini-meals in quality.

My boys are more focused when they can snack. We go to classes once a week and I pack my 13 year old, who is very mildly autistic, what amounts to a produce bag to snack on. For a 5 hour day I'll often pack him a canteloupe, a couple of peppers, 4-6 mini cucumbers, an apple, a banana, a smokie and a bun, some peanuts, and a pepperoni or two. He is allowed to eat it in class, and he stays much more focused. My younger two will snack less.

As a kid, I snacked. I had oatmeal for breakfast; a half pita sandwich with meat, cheese and lettuce, apple and a juice box; after school I had a banana or two oatmeal cookies (homemade); dinner; and then a bedtime snack of fruit or a cookie (if I didn't get one earlier). I was slim active kid. Beyond the juice, I wouldn't change much about my past diet.

@nvmomketo I think you are right. I do not remember *candy* being a part of our snacks. As a child, I would have half (or 1/3 of) a banana for a snack after school. Sometimes, I would have an apple, orange, berries (whatever happened to be in season at the time). I never considered candy a snack, but a "special treat" that kids earned for Christmas, or something offered at weddings. Then again, special treats for me were Apples with cinnamon, fresh pineapple right out of the peel, or cantaloupe with homemade light topping (plain yogurt, but I didn't know this at the time Granola bars were considered a meal on busy days, and seeing how the macros stack up, I can kind of see why. I didn't consider myself an active child, I was mostly on academic teams; however, my father made me go play outside after school (tag, hide and seek, dodge ball, double dutch etc). Candy during an athletic game seems like a bad idea.

I think a lot of the prevalence of snacks can be attributed to the much busier schedules and longer days out of the house that are common for children today. I'm a working mom of 2 boys, ages 4 and 7.

My kids eat breakfast at home around 7am. We leave for the before care program at school at 8 am. They can eat free breakfast at school at 9 am if they choose (they usually do). After that, lunch is at 12:30 pm. Without that second breakfast, they would have 5.5 hours between breakfast at home and lunch. Their lunch period is 18 minutes. That includes the time to get about 100 children from grades PreK to 1st grade into the lunch room, seated, open their lunches (little ones often need help opening bottles of water and sandwich bags) and eating. My kids rarely finish their lunch and I've been there watching them shoving the last of their sandwich in their mouths as they are ushered out for recess. The 4 year old does get an afternoon snack at school, the 7 year old does not. They both get a snack at their after school child care programs. I pick them up around 5:30 and we rush to get to baseball practice or game. If they say they are hungry then, I let them share a bag of animal crackers or something. By the time we get done with practice or the game, and get home, it's 7 pm and we still have to cook and eat dinner, do homework, take baths, and read before bed at 8:30.

That is an incredibly long day for all of us and I can't imagine making it through without all of those snacking opportunities.