I do not understand snacks

[Yellowdaffodila]

So I'm not from the UK and I hear and read about the snack thing all the time.
What is a snack? When I take my children out I'm asked to bring snacks. They will be home for food after our trip. They eat breakfast. Why a snack?

Ironic thing is that it's the Op who failed to understand that British may do things differently. Most people are responding to that as Op thinks her way is the right one, when even medical science says it is better to eat frequent and small meals than 3 big ones.

Op I am from South Asia too and my country, India, is the diabetes capital of the world. I won't make nutrition a matter of culture, my way, etc

Dm has diabetes and if her nutritionist and doctor in India advised her to have smaller, frequent meals to regulate sugar levels.

Who marketed Malang tod (deep fried insects) to the Thailand, or Puff Puff to the Nigerians?

What do other countries do when kids are tired, hungry, whingy then? Just give them a clip round the ear and tell them to wait two hours until the next meal?

Non-British children are FAR too sophisticated and urbane to do such an infra dig thing as whine, Squamata. If a French child gets hungry, he simply reads some Camus until the discomfort passes.

Snacks are my nemesis! I love them but wish I didn't!

What do other countries do when kids are tired, hungry, whingy then? Just give them a clip round the ear and tell them to wait two hours until the next meal?
They are usually not hungry. Many confuse true physical hunger, for habit forming hunger.

If they are hungry, they are happy with an apple or banana.

I agree especially ones fed tea at 4 who still fit in 3 snacks and the meals

An apple or a banana, eaten between meals, is a snack

More frequent meals or proper 'food' at home e.g. fruit or some bread with cheese, rather than pre-packaged things or crisps/chocolate/biscuits

Imagine having some holier than thou attitude over a bloody biscuit. Get a life
As always on MN, let's jump to the extreme and assume that's what those who don't agree mean!

Of course there is nothing wrong with one biscuit, but who only eats one? We all know that sugar is addictive and that we are tempted to have more.

As we know, it's all down to willpower but we lack it as a whole so good habit forming is the best way to control over indulgence.

It's not snacking itself that's the issue, it's what the majority of people snack on and what is given to kids. There are so very few healthy snacks to choose from!

If other countries in Europe don't snack, why do their supermarkets sell...snacks?
Oh they do now, influenced by the USA as everything else. They are just a bit further behind.

I was born and raised here but was raised with my families cultural attitude towards food
But according to some here, cultural attitude and child development choices are pointless because a child will automatically end up doing what they've been deprived of!

@vivainsomnia If they are hungry, they are happy with an apple or banana.

So a snack!
It doesn’t actually make it less of a snack just because you refuse to call it a snack.

These are all snacks as in things you eat between meals. Seems like some people have in mind that snacks are only snacks if they are wrapped in plastic. But that's not the definition of snack.

OP: What is a snack?

Also OP: To people saying the snacks of Sri Lanka they are we call tourist snacks

So you do know what a snack is then?

Of course there is nothing wrong with one biscuit, but who only eats one?

Me.
My kids. My DH.

An apple or a banana, eaten between meals, is a snack
But that's not what the thread is about. OP raised the systematic approach to snacks, as in, if you are going out, you should definitely bring a snack which is indeed is how many families operate and sadly, many of these snacks might include a banana or apples, but also unhealthy snacks.

Eating is very much about habit forming.

Me. My kids. My DH
that's brilliant. If you represented the majority, we wouldn't be suffering from obesity as a nation.

Oh God the endless snacks. Drives me mad and I think it’s a C21 thing, mostly.
I used to take bananas, a packet of biscuits and a bottle of water for my kids if we were doing a 4 hour car journey. Dgc have to have half of Tesco with them to visit a park or just shopping.

I snack constantly through the day and always have and I'm very slim, in fact, one of the few people I know who isn't complaining about post-menopausal weight gain/fat around the middle. I don't calorie count or worry about carbs, but hate eating big meals and much prefer to graze. 2 of my 3 kids are the same and no one has a weight issue. If I get ravenous is when I'm most likely to eat badly, so I try not to let that happen.

I'm just about to swipe right on a cup of tea and a brownie (DD made them yesterday) and am adding up my day's intake so far.

Cup of tea

Walk dogs

small bowl of porridge made with half water and half milk, diced apple, a few sultanas, chia and flax seeds and topped with a couple spoonfuls of plain greek yoghurt

Meeting (zoom, WFH today)

coffee with full fat milk
Raw almonds, a few grapes, a piece of cheese

Met friend for walk (45 mins)

small bowl of leftover homemade vegetable and cannellini bean soup with sprinkle of parmesan, piece of sourdough toast with butter

Another meeting, work on project

Japanese vegetable pancakes (leftover batter from yesterday), probably equivalent to 1.5 eggs
handful of blueberries

Took dogs for run (6k)

a few olives, leftover roast chicken thigh, orange

Shower

3 jacobs cream crackers with cashew butter and raspberry jam

Meeting, more work on project

Will eat dinner with family (pasta with broccoli, Italian sausage & parmesan and a salad) but small amount. And most likely have a cup of warm full fat milk with a smidge of cocoa powder and some collagen powder between dinner and bed. Possibly a dark chocolate digestive if I'm still hungry.

What? I'm Sri Lankan too and snacks or "short eats" are very much a part of our culture. Mutton rolls, patties etc are most definitely not just for tourists!

You have the self-restraint of a Caterina di Giacomo di Benincasa. A true family of ascetics.

@CertainUncertain, I'm the same but that's because we eat small quantities, healthy food and are very active.

It's not the snacking itself that is the issue, it's what the majority of people who snack pick as a snack in addition to large not so healthy meals.

I have a sri lankan friend so if the OP hasn't lived here long or is new to socialising with parents in this country, I completely understand her line of questioning. My friend does not snack. Period. It's just not the way she eats and whilst I'm sure it's not indicative of everyone from Sri Lanka, her diet is very tasty and varied but vastly smaller quantities than I would say the average Brit eats and very little in the way of processed or convenience food.

😆just seen your post @CheeseMuffin so clearly not a Sri Lankan thing!

Puff puff isn’t a mass produced processed food. It’s made from whole ingredients, either in people’s own homes or by small scale roadside sellers. And people eat them occasionally as a treat, not as part of their daily diet.

I assume it’s a similar situation with the Thai deep fried insects.

This isn’t really comparable to the snack culture in the U.K.

And completely agree that constant often unhealthy snacking is a huge part of the obesity problem in this country. I see parents handing out packets of crisps and packs of biscuits at school pick up or in the changing room after swimming or my pet hate people eating on public transport.
Have some self-restraint and wait until you get home. Yes some people might be diabetic/going on a 10 mile trek, but most aren't and it's purely habit