Off Topic the snacking culture

[bogwoppit]

I read this article yesterday.

De Gustibus - Snacking Nation - When Did Grazing Take Over Our Children? - NYTimes.com

What do you think?

 

[MdGymMom01]

I read this article yesterday.

De Gustibus - Snacking Nation - When Did Grazing Take Over Our Children? - NYTimes.com

What do you think?

Very interesting post Bog!! It's funny because I have noticed how often my kids "snack", well at least my son--he seems to be eating ALL the time. But then at mealtime he simply picks at his food. I notice this especially on the weekends. It seems like "lunchtime" can end up being at 3:00pm somedays, especially if there is a late breakfast.

I totally know what you mean about the constant need for food or snacks at any event--it can get a bit rediculous. That is probably why there is such a problem with people being overweight because they are always eating. It doesn't give the body a chance to "get hungry". But then again, I have heard that grazing (on healthy food) is a better and more healthy way to eat. So now I am confused!

I know with me (and what I have taught my kids) is that I eat when I am hungry. Even if there are snacks out, I pass them over if I am not hungry.

Very interesting topic! It will be interesting to see what others think!

 

[gymmomntc2e6]

Pretty interesting. I have one 'grazer' who tends to eat every hour and a half !! She however, has acid reflux and big meals tend to mess with her. She eats breakfast lunch and dinner, just smaller.

DS, eats when he is hungry. Normally breakfast, lunch & dinner. He will occasionally play through lunch on the weekend.

Both eat an after school snack. With DD spending 3 hours at the gym, I feel like her body needs the fuel. At her last physical the doctor suggested ice cream every night for her. Calories & calcium. She is so active, even when not at the gym she burns more than she takes in it seems.

I think it depends on what they are grazing on, why are they grazing. Is a snack needed to fuel them for some reason before an actual meal is available?

I certainly get that EVERY event should not require food. However, if my son just played basketball for an hour and wants a snack ( as long as it is not close to meal time) that is ok with me. Sometimes DD will eat fruit snacks on the way home from gymnastics and then still eat dinner.

I just don't think you can generalize for everyone that grazing is bad. But certainly every school, practice, meeting etc should not require food !!

 

[Shelovesthebars]

I totally agree with this article. I get frustrated with constant snacks for every children's activity. The kids expect snack, especially for soccer. There is a halftime snack and an after game snack. Ridiculous, huh?!So on the teams my husband coaches, he requires that the halftime snack be fresh fruit. The rest is mostly prepackaged JUNK, not to mention the sugary sweets. No wonder kids are getting fat. My dd is allergic to most processed food and all bakery items so she can't eat the other stuff anyway. A blessing in disguise!

 

[bogwoppit]

I found the article very amusing really. I can totally see the how the whole snacking culture has taken off.

In our house the kids get three meals and two snacks. The snacks are always helathy, fruit is always available. My background is in early childhood care and I think much of what I do is a leftover of those days. (leftovers hahaha!)

My youngest loves to eat and loves food, so she is hungry way more that not. SO with her we are careful to make sure she can eat, but also careful about what she eats. One size does definitely fit all and I know that in my house alone we have 5 very different sets of eating needs. The two teens really do not fit into the two snack regime, but they are not big eaters anyway. FInding a good fit for your kids as individuals and making it so you don't spend you life in the kitchen.

My pet peeve is the dessert culture, do kids need dessert after every meal??? I think not, unless an apple is dessert.

I think with the advent of big companies getting into the snack market some parents are sucked inot the canned drink, fruit roll up culture. Now that can't be good.

When I am asked to provide a snack I send fruit skewers or a veggie plate. If their hungry they'll eat it.

 

[Billy]

My kids eat three meals and one afternoon snack and that's it. The afternoon snack comes from the snack bowl in the pantry and is something like fruit gummies or Nutrigrain bars or 100 cal. microwave popcorn packs. I do sometimes get Rice Krispies treats or fruit roll ups but afternoon snack is never cookies or candy or the like. I do let them have dessert after dinner most nights but for them, dessert is two cookies or two pieces of their Christmas candy or something like that. They really don't eat that much in the way of sweets.

The exception to that is Boo's afternoon snack on practice days. She'll get something from the pantry but I also have her eat some applesauce or cheese or yogurt or a Clif Bar or something. She won't get dinner until 9pm on practice nights so she needs something to get her through.

Also, my kids don't do well with veggies but they're great with fruit. So they eat a lot of applesauce (the unsweetened kind) or fruit cups (no sugar added) or fresh fruit if it's in season. Add in a multivitamin, vitamin C during the winter and milk with every meal and I think they're doing pretty well.

 

[Billy]

Oh, wait. I did forget the snack my two youngest get at school most days. My 1st grader is provided a snack by his teacher whereas my 2nd grader has the choice of bringing a snack if she wants one. My son will eat if it's provided but my daughter often chooses not to bring anything. When she does, it has to be something relatively healthy so she'll bring raisins or trail mix or something. I forgot about that... *sigh* Maybe we're not doing as well as I'd thought.

 

[MdGymMom01]

I think it really depends on the child or person. For me, I get full very fast so I can't eat full meals. I stop when I am full and then may have a snack 2 hours later. My dd is the same way. She eats healthy for the most part and follows her internal hunger cues. I can always tell when she is ready to grow because she seems always hungry! I do have to admit that I have a sweet tooth so you will most definitely find Tasteykakes, ice cream and chocolate in the house . I make sure I offer the fruit, veggies and healthy stuff first to the kids and I do let them have some junk. But, to be honest, they usually go for the fruit or yogurt first. I try not to "forbid" any foods because that can lead to cravings when they get older. Everything in moderation is what I go by.

 

[T.Gymnastics]

Given that my practice is at such an akward time usaually 5-9 i tend to eat eat a sandwich before practice, and yogurt or pasta afterwards. so most nights i dont really have a dinner (the family does but i dont) then on other days i have regular meals, and an afterschool snack like pretzels or a doughnut, or fruit. saturday everyone eats breakfast at different times so lunch comes at about 2. so if you ate breakfast early you probably ate a snack. So many meals arent "normal" but i dont really graze.

 

[dancesterx3]

I think it's interesting. Someone was talking about how their kids eat and that they eat fairly well minus the snacks they eat at school. I'm a nanny and I work with a 5 year old. I know at school he's provided a snack and lunch, which his mom packs for him. When I pick him up after school, I usually have for him a piece of fruit and a bottle of water or some kind of no sugar added juice. But on Fridays we will stop at McDonalds and get a happy meal just to celebrate the end of the week. I know it's probably bad, and his parents allow me to do it, but I'm talking health wise, I don't know how they eat as far as dinner goes and bed time snacks. But I don't want to deprive my kid of everything for their health, now don't get me wrong here, What I'm saying is that your kids ( i assume, shame on me) are in gymnastics or some kind of sport where they are working out, so why deprive them completely of some kind of junk food? Once a week, or even do what I do in my life, eat healthy all but one day out of the week? That way you aren't feeling deprived completely of fast food or sugary sodas or whatever your guilty pleasure is. The hardest part is breaking the habit of unhealthy eating and a lot of people feel like they "can't" it's just like smoking, people think oh I can't stop smoking, I crave it too much, so they don't even try. I used to hate diet soda, now I force myself to buy it so when I'm at home thats what I grab. I've even started buying zero calorie sodas like Coke zero cause it tastes the same for the most part but it's still 0 cal.

Also to whoever said something about eating smaller meals more frequently as being healthier, that is true. You should be eating at least every 3 hours, start off with a good breakfast like cereal and an egg, eat a mid morning snack like fruit and cheese, a sensible lunch under 300 calories, then an afternoon snack like yogurt or peanut butter on whole wheat toast, then a healthy dinner a small desert ( I like the smart ones deserts those are tasty) and thats it. They also say not to eat after 8 pm because of the way you digest food. Anyways. Sorry if it's long or whatever, my moms kinda a health nut and so she tells me how these things she learns.

 

[CoachGoofy]

I don't like the whole food-as-pacifier and junk=comfort mentalities that are being conditioned into kids. There are better and more long lasting rewards than junk food, & the whole precident of "these empty calories I don't even need because I JUST ATE will make me feel good and make my brain shush" just can't be good for anyone.

(and yes, I'm a mega-grazer. That's just how my body works. I was raised with sit down meals, and "you can have carrots, apples, or cheese if you're hungry in between meals")

 

[Mack_the_Ripper]

Hm...I find that I tend to graze out of boredom, which obviously should and will be stopped. My mother has the same problem and her family tends to have weight problems, so I've got to cut the flower before it buds (or whatever). I'm also attracted to sweets, and I love to bake delicious sweets and breads from scratch...which wouldn't be so bad if I didn't taste the batter all the time...

On gymnastics weekdays, I'll have a yogurt and toast or fruit for breakfast, leftovers for lunch, a yogurt or granola bar (or both, depending on how hungry I am and the size of the granola bar) for an after-school snack...we are offered snack time (5 min) at gymnastics (4 hours) but I don't feel like my stomach needs or can handle eating during strenuous exercise. I'll get home and have a large dinner (always including salad) and maybe a little dessert.

It's when I'm home alone and/or cooking that I graze, which I've definitely got to stop. I also hate eating at school (even though I bring my lunch) so if I don't have gymnastics I probably won't eat lunch. I have to eat lunch for fuel if I have gymnastics, though...so I'll have several snacks between when I get home and dinner. This is probably not optimal. Must change.