To find the obsession with snacks weird

When DS was little it was advised to give small children healthy snacks because 3 meals a day wasn't appropriate for some reason, can't remember exactly.

When I knocked that on the head DS became a lot less fussy at mealtimes. He obviously just wasn't hungry enough for his dinner before.

He's nearly 16 and 6'4" now and eats about 5 meals a day, you couldn't call what he puts away before and after dinner 'snacks' 😂

I worked so after school çlub gave them a snack at 3 every day.

On Fridays I picked them up as I finished work at 2 so always bought a snack or a trip to the sweetie shop, then the park. Dinner was at 7.

No snacks at the weekend and no snacks now that they're adults. I don't snack either.
The fruit bowl is always out and anyone can and always has been able to help themselves if they're peckish.

We're all neuro divergent and if we snack we aren't hungry for meals and lose weight rapidly. I never snacked as a child and my mum didn't either. It's just never been a thing in our family until after school club started it!

My middle child is a hangry child. Blood sugars and ability to function very enmeshed. He only survived school due to a ready supply of fruit and the odd oat bar. As an adult he’s a ridiculously slim beanpole that eats sensibly and still has the odd snack if the mood takes.

My youngest was a grazer. Still is. Would happily subsist on small amounts of cheese, crackers, and fruit at regular intervals throughout the day. His favourite meal is a ‘bougie lunchable’ as he calls it, a couple of crackers, a piece of nice cheese, a slice of decent ham, and a handful of blueberries or grapes. Also very slim, though only 13.

I don’t snack at all, I’m the fat one in the family.

We all consume lots of water though. I won’t compromise on them having access to a drink whenever they feel they need it. We’re a family of migraine sufferers, and I’d rather they were peeing frequently due to adequate hydration than suffering the horrendous effects of dehydration I had as a child in the 80s/90s.

I've actually changed my mind on this. I used to hate the constant snacking, and be quite strict about three meals a day and that's it. It was very annoying when we'd e.g. go to the park and see the children's friends who would have a parade of snacks that of course mine always wanted.

However my eldest is, and has always been, extremely active - and is constantly proclaiming hunger. I have recently noticed a marked improvement in behaviour if I provide a substantial snack after school. So now I think maybe some people do just need more frequent eating.

I am concerned about the health side though, any suggestions for healthy and filling snacks anyone??! Cut up carrot and cucumber is my go to but it is quite boring

We had water fountains in the playground at my school in the 70s. Now we have chn coming in with huge bottles. No need, we have taps so a normal size bottle will suffice.

Milk was free for school chn until Margaret Thatcher stopped it. She was known as Thatcher the milk snatcher! I work in primary and now parents have to pay for it unless they are on a pupil premium.

I don't think it's anything new really though.

I grew up in the 70s and 80s and we did have snacks - tuck shop at school at playtime, sweets from the shop in the way home, access to apples and bananas at home when we got in, etc.

Schools have had milk and fruit snacks for a long time - I think it was introduced when dd was very small, so at least 20 years now. Free for infants, encouraged to take on for older. Milk at playtime was around much longer,

Lunch at school is at 12pm generally. So it can be a long time before dinner at home. A snack when getting home, or after school during the walk home or drive to an activity isn't particularly unusual, or even bad.

The water at school thing has been around for a good 20 years, more or less, certainly when dd was little. Whilst it can be a pain in the classroom at times, I also remember not having access to water at school, bar lunchtime, and being very thirsty.

They might not be going home? We go straight from school to after school activities and sports so mine generally eat a snack before sports/dance

Hopefully todays kids will be in better habits when they’re older then and drink more water than you as they’re used to it. I remember being thirsty a lot at school, especially in warmer weather.

It’s a snack if the person is eating it as a snack. How bizarre that anyone would try to categorise what someone else eats. 🤪

Yes, I think the way school treats lunch is a problem. So often they seem to rush the kids out.

I used to rush out myself because I found the lunch room too noisy and chaotic.

Kids really should be sitting in a calm environment and allowed to eat at a healthy pace.

At the risk of outing myself - Not Miss Cotton was it?

A playpiece! Had totally slipped my mind that's what we called it at school.

Is it...?

You should probably tell the entire planet that...

Also, A child that's eaten maybe a piece of carrot, two bites of pasta and half a sausage at 12 in school at lunch, then goes and runs around for 30+ minutes, does 2+more hours of learning, walks home, goes to the playground for 45 minutes, does some homework and gets dinner, 6 hours after their "lunch" at 6pm is ridiculous for perhaps being a hit hungry around 4? And is going to be overweight because they had an apple and a bit of cheese...?

What nonsense you speak.

Snacks is a ridiculous concept.

Little pickers wear bigger knickers 😅

In many ways I agree with the OP. My parents never turned up to pick me up from primary school with a snack, and I think my kids have come to expect it and it's a pain in the arse to be honest. The idea that they may have to wait til we get home (10 min walk) seems beyond the pale. My daughter also thinks she must take a snack whenever she stays at school for a club. However, in their defence my son (now at secondary school) often doesn't have time to eat lunch - especially if he does a lunchtime activity, due to all the time spent lining up. Seems a bit unfair. And while my daughter does have more time to eat, she generally hates the (free cos we are in London) school dinners. Also especially in warmer my kids play in the park after school rather than go home (we live in a flat so that's important, I grew up rural so went home to play in my garden).

Days out are a whole other issue, they want / expect/ demand constant snacks and drinks. A train journey with no snacks goes down very badly with my kids. It's prob all my fault for getting them to used to it and I do think I need to accidentally on purpose forget snacks combined with getting to the station too late to buy any on our next train journey, ideally also ensuring the train is without a trolley service! It will be painful but I need them to build resilience!

I used to deliver training courses, and the snacks people brought were ridiculous. Some had eaten more or less a whole packed lunch by 11am; sandwiches, various chocolate treats, fruit, biscuits. Then they'd go on to have a whole lunch during the lunch break... often going off and reappearing with takeaway drinks/pasties/baguettes/more cakes, it was gross. No medical needs. They'd just joke about it.

I agree, its constant isn't it! I can't imagine its going to be a helpful habit to have in later life.
I've seen it everywhere this week- in shops, in church, in the park, getting into the cat, on the bus. Must always have a snack in hand!!

Snacks have always been a thing, I went to secondary school in the 90's and we had morning snack then lunch.

Have you tried going into your local corner shop at school finish time? It's full of teenagers buying junk (not all teenagers do this I admit), most kids are hungry when they finish school, if dinner is not on the table as soon as your home then a snack is normal. So what does it matter if it's eaten on the way home.

To keep them quiet.

That wasn't a girls' school in a North London borough by any chance was it....? I can't believe two headmistresses would say such a thing. Ours mentioned the patent shoes reflecting your knickers, something not forgotten half a century later.

I eat a couple of times a day as an adult in my mid-40s and that works for me now, but I definitely remember eating five or six times a day as a kid (breakfast, snack - a playpiece as a Scot! - lunch, after-school snack, dinner and sometimes supper. Definitely six times a day as a sporty teenager.

Never been overweight and have a very healthy relationship with food.