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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

I do not understand snacks

392 replies

Yellowdaffodila · 27/03/2023 10:52

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?

OP posts:
Jourdain11 · 27/03/2023 20:51

Tinybrother · 27/03/2023 20:45

Mumsnet is particularly insane about food at the moment. Maybe everyone has given up chocolate for lent and it’s sent them a bit loopy.

Other thought. They might be fasting for Ramadan. Does the loopiness cool down after sunset?

Peppadog · 27/03/2023 20:57

@Tinybrother I don't know really, I think it's just one of those things that you give in to once or twice and then it sets a precedent and before you know where you are, you are one of those snack givers you once despised. I'm partly joking as I don't think all snacks are made equal or that they are THAT bad, but it's just another thing to have to fit in my bag and remember to pack and making sure each child has the same and won't argue etc. Just a faff.

MysteryBelle · 27/03/2023 21:31

This thread is motivating me to try to stop snacking. Wish me luck 😀 I used to could eat anything I wanted whenever I wanted but not anymore!

I think it’s fairly traditional to have a snack in the afternoon. And of course Winnie the Pooh had elevenses too. I remember watching the Andy Griffith show, made in the 60s, and Opie would have chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk after school. Then he would go outside and play until dinner time. Then do his homework after dinner. Can you tell I watched this show religiously. It’s a great show actually.

I agree most of us have too many snacks and unhealthy ones. It’s a matter of habit and discipline. When my dc was little, he’d have a sippy cup and goldfish as a snack sometimes if we were out and about.

InSpaceNooneCanHearYouScream · 27/03/2023 21:40

My mum didn't really give us snacks as kids, just 3 normal meals a day. I was a fairly skinny kid. Looking back on it, I was hungry most of the time, and am now a fat adult who snacks a lot. Make of that what you will.

ATerrorofLeftovers · 27/03/2023 21:42

It always makes me cringe when people get all moralistic or smug and superior about food and eating.

Nectarines · 27/03/2023 21:43

I don’t really bother with meals. Just snacks! Little and often.

AllTheDifference · 27/03/2023 21:43

I think we need to give credit where it’s due. We just make amazing snacks in this country. No wonder we love eating them.

704703hey · 27/03/2023 21:45

We always had a snack when we got home from school. Just a sandwich and fruit to tide us over until dinner whilst we watched neighbours or whatever.

Can't see anything wrong with it!

Merangutan · 27/03/2023 21:49

. I weightlift and have a very high metabolism due to the muscle. I get hungry if I go 5-6 hours between meals. I can’t eat all of the food I need in one sitting - I’m only petite and I’d be bloated.

transformandriseup · 27/03/2023 22:07

We always had a snack when we got home from school.

Yep, my mum was born in the 40's and still gave us a snack after school.

maddy68 · 27/03/2023 22:23

I am from the UK but no longer live there. Literally no-one snacks in my adopted country.

Everyone is super skinny too

coldmarchmorn · 27/03/2023 22:37

maddy68 · 27/03/2023 22:23

I am from the UK but no longer live there. Literally no-one snacks in my adopted country.

Everyone is super skinny too

No idea what your adopted country is but I still don't believe you that literally noone snacks.

Ponoka7 · 28/03/2023 00:05

PousseyNotMoira · 27/03/2023 16:20

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.

Show quote history

But both are snacks. The difference is disposable income and cost. Every culture has a form of small foods. We live in a country were people can afford manufactured food and they are cheap. The point was that foods cooked from scratch aren't any healthier. Past generations had tea/coffee with sugar in with a slice of bread/fruitcake, or a biscuit. Since we drank tea, we've always had tea breaks.

DoingUp · 28/03/2023 00:13

Iwantmyoldnameback · 27/03/2023 11:01

I don't eat snacks and I'm fat. Just wanted to get that out there.

Lol

DoingUp · 28/03/2023 00:15

I always enjoyed going to Ireland and seeing sandwiches in the 'snack' section of the supermarket :D

HelloBunny · 28/03/2023 00:19

A lot of the kiddie snacks are just marketed to time-poor parents. Now that both are working, home-cooked meals are less available to children.

PousseyNotMoira · 28/03/2023 00:21

Ponoka7 · 28/03/2023 00:05

But both are snacks. The difference is disposable income and cost. Every culture has a form of small foods. We live in a country were people can afford manufactured food and they are cheap. The point was that foods cooked from scratch aren't any healthier. Past generations had tea/coffee with sugar in with a slice of bread/fruitcake, or a biscuit. Since we drank tea, we've always had tea breaks.

Show quote history

And people eat them occasionally as a treat, not as part of their daily diet.

That is the difference. And the key issue.

The point was that foods cooked from scratch aren't any healthier.

That’s simply not true.

IAmTheWalrus85 · 28/03/2023 06:17

Tinybrother · 27/03/2023 20:43

”just buy lunch” is hilariously “let them eat cake” Grin

the example I gave in the rest of my post that you did not quote was of the car breaking down. I live in a village, we could easily be waiting by a field with a couple of toddlers for rescue, I can’t just go and buy lunch - it’s an unlikely situation but I have a back up plan because that’s who I am. also, I was talking about “a healthy snack” - ie oatcakes or something not especially exciting but has a shelf life and will do fine in an unexpected situation

i wasn’t talking about children moaning for snacks and then being easily distracted. My youngest ones are toddlers, you don’t get “I’m starving mum” moaning that you can ignore, you get screaming and difficult behaviour when it’s getting late for their lunch. Why would you not have emergency stuff just in case, like spare nappies or clothes or water or Shock FOOD, to avoid making a stressful situation like a breakdown worse with hungry small children too?

Show quote history

”just buy lunch” is hilariously “let them eat cake”

Isn’t it just 😁

It assumes spare cash to just go buying lunches on a whim plus the availability of shops or restaurants… and ignores the fact that an emergency lunch bought ‘out’ is likely to be less healthy than a snack brought from home and lunch at home.

Then the posters proceeds to talk about ‘healthy snacks’ 😂

I think a lot of Mumsnetters make up fictional ‘other parents’ in their heads to make themselves feel like their parenting is superior

IAmTheWalrus85 · 28/03/2023 06:30

InSpaceNooneCanHearYouScream · 27/03/2023 21:40

My mum didn't really give us snacks as kids, just 3 normal meals a day. I was a fairly skinny kid. Looking back on it, I was hungry most of the time, and am now a fat adult who snacks a lot. Make of that what you will.

I think it’s generally accepted that children of parents who are overly controlling/restrictive around food often grow up to be adults with poorer self-control around it. I definitely fell into that category for a long time.

With my own children my general approach is to try not to restrict access to food but try to make sure what’s available is reasonably healthy - eg they can always have fruit if they want it. I do restrict less healthy options but don’t ban them altogether. As with most aspects of parenting I have no idea whether I’m getting it ‘right’ but I wanted to take a different approach to the strict and restrictive approach I was raised with because I don’t think that served me well.

InSpaceNooneCanHearYouScream · 28/03/2023 07:32

@IAmTheWalrus85 agreed, but the funny thing was, my mum wasn't actually controlling or restrictive. She just didn't have a lot of money and was frugal, so didn't buy junk food and we weren't that fussed about fruit. There was nothing stopping us having a cheese sandwich after school if we wanted it, but that was pretty much the only snack that was ever available, so we didn't bother Grin.

Hobert · 28/03/2023 08:57

This thread is hilarious. I like all the people who don't do snacks just give their children some fruit or toast - which is a snack obviously.

Plus the idea that only the UK has snacks! The weird exceptionalism the UK goes in for is bonkers. Yes, UK parents are uniquely shit and their children uniquely prone to being fat little tantrum throwers.

I am not from the UK but can tell you you're not as exceptional (in either direction) as you think!

ReneBumsWombats · 28/03/2023 09:07

fat little tantrum throwers

I've been trying to think of a new name change. Thank you...

HyggeTygge · 28/03/2023 09:33

Florenz · 27/03/2023 19:21

There's a difference between being hungry and being starving. No-one is going to starve if they go a few hours without eating.

Ok, say I'm a surgeon who feels hungry enough after 2-3 hours of eating a small bowl of porridge that I'm distracted by the physical feeling of being hungry. I know intellectually that I'm not going to starve, but my body produces the physical sensations of hunger anyway.

Would you be fine with me operating on you or your child while hungry? Would you see there being any advantage whatsoever to me eating something even though it wasn't breakfast time, lunch time, or tea time?

Tinybrother · 28/03/2023 10:17

Hobert · 28/03/2023 08:57

This thread is hilarious. I like all the people who don't do snacks just give their children some fruit or toast - which is a snack obviously.

Plus the idea that only the UK has snacks! The weird exceptionalism the UK goes in for is bonkers. Yes, UK parents are uniquely shit and their children uniquely prone to being fat little tantrum throwers.

I am not from the UK but can tell you you're not as exceptional (in either direction) as you think!

All of this

Peppadog · 28/03/2023 10:27

I don't think anyone has said that the UK is the only country to have snacks 🙄