Is snacking beneficial for childrens’ and adolescents’ health? The impact of the lack of a universal definition of snacking on interpretation of the literature

Snacking is a common practice among children and adolescents that seems to increasingly concern health scientists. Results from large epidemiological studies, assessing trends in snacking, indicate that snacking in children and adolescents has increased significantly during the last three decades. At the same time, the nutritional value of foods consumed as snacks and whether their consumption is responsible, at least in part, for the rise in the prevalence of childhood obesity also observed in the last years, has been a main concern among the scientific society.

Snacking and snacks are terms widely used in the literature to assess both the trends in the consumption of such foods and their association with body weight and other health indices. However, the lack of consensus on the definition and the assessment methodology for snacking complicates interpretation of the literature.Most reports illustrate that snacking contributes significantly, not only to energy intake, but also to macronutrient and micronutrient intake. Furthermore, snacking does not seem to be a risk factor for childhood obesity, as initially hypothesized.

Nevertheless, its association with body weight seems to depend on the methodology applied for its assessment and the definition used or implied by each research team. This methodological heterogeneity limits the development of evidence-based recommendations and dietary guidelines regarding snacking, aiming at incorporating snacks in a balanced diet for children and adolescents.