Snacking is not as unhealthy as you might think

Snacking, it turns out, is not all about crisps, biscuits and chocolate. Dutch millennials often consume nutritious foods, such as fruit, bread and yoghurt, between their main meals. This is one of the findings from the PhD research of Mariëlle de Vaal. Moreover, snacking behaviour revolves not only around the food or drink consumed, but also around people’s motives and the situation in which they eat or drink.

De Vaal followed the dietary patterns of 264 Dutch millennials for a year using a mobile app. Participants recorded their food and drink intake and labelled each consumption occasion, for example as ‘breakfast’, ‘lunch’, ‘in-between’ or ‘meal replacement’. The study found that, on average, the participants snacked between meals four to five times a day, but that 64 per cent of these products fell within the Dutch Wheel of Five guidelines. These included fruit, cucumber, bread, yoghurt and black coffee. As such, these snacks can contribute to a healthy diet.

One snack, different meanings

The study and in-depth interviews with participants also showed that the same food can have a different meaning depending on the situation. For example, participants described a cucumber eaten at work in the morning to stave off hunger until lunch as an ‘in-between’. They labeled the same cucumber as ‘snack’ during a sociable evening with friends. Coffee also takes on different meanings depending on the context. At work, a cup of black coffee may serve as a functional snack; on a terrace with friends, the same coffee may be seen more as an indulgence.

According to De Vaal, this shows that snacking is about more than the food itself. People eat or drink outside their main meals not only because they are hungry or thirsty, but also out of habit, for convenience, energy, relaxation, health or social interaction. These considerations are not fixed, either. The environment also plays a role, the study shows. People’s snacking behaviour may differ, for example, at the office and at home on the sofa. “The same person may eat something in the morning to get energy and choose something similar in the evening because it is sociable or because they fancy something tasty,” says De Vaal.

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