About snacks?

[SummerDays2020]

I always hear this idea that people nowadays can't go long without eating/eat too many snacks.

I find that a bit strange because growing up my mum always made 'elevenses' in the morning and 'tea' (as in sandwiches, cakes etc) in the afternoon alongside 3 meals a day. My grandparents had supper too.

None of us were/are overweight. I don't have snacks in the day, myself everyday but I do sometimes if I'm hungry in the afternoon.

In my opinion it is the quality of food that is important (it was all fresh home made food) and maybe the portion size too.

Yes, we always had something in the afternoon (in over 50 years I don't think I've ever had a period without an afternoon snack being my normal). Supper wasn't unheard of. A biscuit with the morning tea-break was something most people seemed to do.

Are snacks bigger nowadays? I'm thinking of the huge cupcakes sold in bakeries, compared to a jam tart or fairy cake from my childhood... and it wouldn't have occurred to us that a burger and fries was something you had mid-afternoon.

@merryhouse

Yes, we always had something in the afternoon (in over 50 years I don't think I've ever had a period without an afternoon snack being my normal). Supper wasn't unheard of. A biscuit with the morning tea-break was something most people seemed to do.

Are snacks bigger nowadays? I'm thinking of the huge cupcakes sold in bakeries, compared to a jam tart or fairy cake from my childhood... and it wouldn't have occurred to us that a burger and fries was something you had mid-afternoon.

Yes, as you say the snacks weren't huge quantities. A small jam tart rather than the giant ones they sell in shops. I've just got nostalgic about my mum's jam tarts!

We never had snacks (grew up in the 80’s), 3 meals a day and only pudding in the weekends. We had a fruit bowl but no other snacks. I never felt hungry, once I was a teenager I would buy a bar of chocolate from the shop or a packet of crisps with pocket money but parents only provided food at meal times. We were usually too busy to think about snacking. After school we would go straight out to play and wouldn’t eat until dinner time (5-6pm), never felt hungry before bed.

I remember going on a school residential trip and being offered super and no knowing what super was 🤣.

Elevenses 🤢 and afternoon tea are snacks. Not sure where your point is.

I think it just varied family to family. Snacking wasn't big in my family.

My grandma eats very "pure" as in non processed food. She eats real butter and biscuits but small portions. I think it's portion size that is enormous now.

@Lovemusic33

We never had snacks (grew up in the 80’s), 3 meals a day and only pudding in the weekends. We had a fruit bowl but no other snacks. I never felt hungry, once I was a teenager I would buy a bar of chocolate from the shop or a packet of crisps with pocket money but parents only provided food at meal times. We were usually too busy to think about snacking. After school we would go straight out to play and wouldn’t eat until dinner time (5-6pm), never felt hungry before bed.

I remember going on a school residential trip and being offered super and no knowing what super was 🤣.

Yes, I realise not every family did this/could afford to but just that snacks are not new!

Yes those cupcakes! I used to make 12 fairy cakes when my boys were young and the icing on 12 was in total the same as on one cup cake
Dare I also say we were more active back in the days of snacks? I’m talking 50’s 60’s for me when there was no family car and no indoor play except on wet days! It was only one biscuit though or as someone said, one tiny homemade jam tart. I get headachy if I don’t have something every 3 hours so try to have something small as I can still hear my mother saying “ you’ll spoil your appetite”

@nearlyspringyay

Elevenses 🤢 and afternoon tea are snacks. Not sure where your point is.

That's my point. Snacks have been eaten for generations.

Elevenses and afternoon tea are more structured snacks. I think many people nowadays graze throughout the day in addition to their normal meals - which probably adds up to a larger amount of food being eaten overall than two small snacks.

I think many people aren’t having just one snack between meals though. I think it’s more ‘grazing’ rather than snacking, it’s also mindless snacking, as in gabbing crisps and chocolate bars or biscuits while doing something else like reading something on your phone or watching TV, even on a short drive. I think more people than we realise can literally not go an hour without eating something.

@Lovemusic33

We never had snacks (grew up in the 80’s), 3 meals a day and only pudding in the weekends. We had a fruit bowl but no other snacks. I never felt hungry, once I was a teenager I would buy a bar of chocolate from the shop or a packet of crisps with pocket money but parents only provided food at meal times. We were usually too busy to think about snacking. After school we would go straight out to play and wouldn’t eat until dinner time (5-6pm), never felt hungry before bed.

I remember going on a school residential trip and being offered super and no knowing what super was 🤣.

I'm not too sure what meal 'super' is either

The bad thing with grazing is you build insulin resistance increasing your risk of diabetes. The human body is great at fasting and feasting.

I can't recall snacks as such at school, we just had breakfast, lunch, then dinner. I think we had something when we got home from school at about 3.30pm and then dinner wasn't until 7 or 8. So we'd have something like cake/biscuits etc. As a teenager probably similar but we'd get things like crisps, chocolate bar at breaks and also after school.

During holidays and at weekends we had sometimes biscuits or cake at 11 (elevenses) but not always. We also had something usually in the afternoon or before dinner but not always. Fruit/biscuits etc. If we saw a relative it'd be cake/snack etc.

We played out a lot and often didn't bother about snacks but that's not to say we didn't have any. I recall e.g. going to a big park that had an adventure playground, we had a picnic lunch, were allowed one or two ice creams and if we came out of the playground I'm sure we could eat whatever was left over (if anything) from the picnic. Thing is - though there were water fountains I don't recall us drinking more or eating more. We could quite easily go to e.g. a seaside town like Hastings and after having lunch could spend all afternoon playing and we had money for e.g. hot donuts or chocolate but i honestly don't recall buying loads! I mean we bought sweets from an old fashioned sweet shop but not to gorge on them!

@Knittingnanny2

Yes those cupcakes! I used to make 12 fairy cakes when my boys were young and the icing on 12 was in total the same as on one cup cake Dare I also say we were more active back in the days of snacks? I’m talking 50’s 60’s for me when there was no family car and no indoor play except on wet days! It was only one biscuit though or as someone said, one tiny homemade jam tart. I get headachy if I don’t have something every 3 hours so try to have something small as I can still hear my mother saying “ you’ll spoil your appetite”

@Knittingnanny2

My DM used to make in 70s what she called Queen Cakes - so cakes which were fairy cakes but with currants/sultanas in them but no icing and made with brown sugar.

She did like Digestive Biscuits so we'd often have those if hungry. If we were at the bakery getting bread we'd often get an iced bun (with cherry etc).

There was no snacking as in crisps unless we went to the pub where we were allowed crisps and orange juice/coke/etc as long as we stayed in the pub garden/games room. And we had crisps with packed lunches/school journeys.

We didn't have snacks in the late 1940s/50s which I guess is not surprising since rationing didn't end until 1954 and so I've never got into the habit of having snacks.

I find it a bit odd, I have 3 meals a day and manage just fine, there are people at work who are constantly eating all day and I just think why?

@StrangeCondition

I find it a bit odd, I have 3 meals a day and manage just fine, there are people at work who are constantly eating all day and I just think why?

Cos work is horrible and food is nice.

In the 1970s when I (urban child) went on holiday to family (rural agricultural workers), I was always amazed at how many meals they had. It was Hobbit-levels of meal frequency - breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, etc etc etc. But they simply had much more physical activity during the day, and the meals weren't overly large.

@StrangeCondition

I find it a bit odd, I have 3 meals a day and manage just fine, there are people at work who are constantly eating all day and I just think why?

Exactly! I don’t like alcohol and see no point in drinking a bottle of wine of an evening but I understand some people enjoy it. Food is a quick, cheap and easy way to have a bit of pleasure in your day

@nearlyspringyay

Elevenses 🤢 and afternoon tea are snacks. Not sure where your point is.

🤦🏽‍♀️

I've noticed this. I used to be a serial snacker... constantly thinking about the next thing. Trying to be healthy i.e. have porridge for breakfast, then a banana at 10ish, lunch followed by a yoghurt etc. I used to feel headachey, a bit shaky, my mood decreased etc whenever I'd stopped grazing for a while.

I've been cutting back and I stopped snacking and having a yoghurt / fruit / biscuit as "desert" after my lunch and dinner. I'm amazed at how different I feel. I don't get the weird headachey, shakey feeling that I used to. I can go for half a day and not think about snacking or food in general. Honestly, I think it was just a bad habit that I fell into and didn't realise until I'd started gaining weight.

Weirdly, I was discussing this exact thing with my parents, who are both c.80 years old, at the weekend.

They both said that their families (working class Londoners) definitely considered it normal to have a mid-morning snack and a mid-afternoon one when they were younger. So when my nan was a housewife she stopped for a cuppa and maybe a couple of biscuits or an apple mid-morning, and then she'd have a slice of bread and jam or a rock cake or something with her children when they got in from school. My parents both say they used to be able to buy a bun or something during their morning break at school. And if you worked in an office or a factory, there'd usually be a tea lady who came round morning and afternoon with a tea urn and some basic snack items.

However, what both my parents say they never really did was a) snack while watching television or listening to the radio, b) buy a chocolate bar and eat it while walking down the street, c) have a stock of snacks just sitting there to be eaten at any time or d) snack on train/car/bus journeys. Also they basically just grew up drinking tea all the time instead of fruit juice, sugary drinks etc - things like lemonade or orange squash were a treat, not a daily thing. My mum also says that it baffles her that parents today carry snacks in their bags for babies and toddlers. She says that if you were out with a toddler all day, you'd take a packed lunch for it, but you wouldn't be delving into your bag for things for them to nibble on while you were out doing the shopping with them, apparently.

Yes, I agree. I grew up in the 90s and we definitely had small snacks (e.g. a piece of fruit, a biscuit) at 3pm and sometimes at 11am.

I don't think there's a problem with snacking as long as it's relatively healthy snacking, in fact 'hanger' is a real thing (apparently being hungry can raise your blood pressure) and I've noticed that for my nephews (I don't have kids yet) who I look after regularly, that they get a real dip in mood when they're hungry at 3ish and can behave quite manically until they've had a snack!

As a young child into teenager years, I cannot believe how much I ate.
Breakfast was 2 rounds of toast with beans or eggs at 7am. Crackers with cheese and apple at 11am. Lunch 1230 at school with pudding. Then got home from school and had 2 boiled eggs with bread and butter or bananas and custard. Evening meal about 6 with pudding then at 930pm all the family had cocoa and (supper) shredded wheat or weetabix with hot milk and sugar.
I was called 'sparrow legs' and definitely not overweight.
Changed somewhat with senior school but still 3 meals with 3 snacks and did sport 6-7 days a week

Sweets/chocolate once a week on Sunday

All food from scratch apart from the crackers

I’m 51 and don’t remember ever eating snacks at home. Always had a (usually hot) pudding after dinner though. My kids weren’t snackers either.