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?

Growing children need a lot of calories. They need more than three meals worth. So snacks are used.

Sliced apples, crisps, breadsticks, even chocolate are all useful ways to top up their intake.

They have said that there are countries where literally no-one snacks, which is not true. They have said that the UK has a specific (bad) snacking culture different to other countries superior good snacking culture.

All nonsense, obviously.

Well UK has a greater number of people overweight and obese and a higher average BMI than some other European countries.

So some countries are definitely consuming less food overall.

and lower than other countries.

BMI rates of a country do not tell you how much food people are consuming, obviously.

Ooh can I take the twin version, I do have them despite it seemingly being a MN lie

Except even if you can afford lunch vs just a pre brought multipack snack which is much cheaper, here your options are MacDonalds, the pub, Greggs or Subway. Maccies so hated on here. Pub takes ages. Greggs is heading into snack territory. Subway is better but the kids versions are those crunchy squares and a faff for a 2/3 yo. That's assuming you're even somewhere that has food places. More likely to be a corner shop full of crisps and chocolates.

Where do you live, the 1970's? There are so many more options around than that! Even that corner shop has got apples and bananas as well as crisps and chocolates, and probably a lot more healthy food besides.

I wouldn't buy the "fresh" fruit from our local corner shop. But regardless, it's still a snack and the point was "buy lunch!" so it's Maccies, the pub, Greggs or Subway, none exact inexpensive or quick as a home bought snack

How is it only Mcdonalds, a pub, greggs or Subway? It's hardly a small village if you have all that!

Snacks, lunches, who cares? But what's with all the blatant lies about food on this thread? It's so weird.

Are you confusing that poster with me? I live in a village and was talking about emergency food for if the car happens to break down, which the PP chose not to include in the quote.

Lower than 2 countries only - Malta and Turkey - ie we are the third fattest country in Europe.

Unless other counties are doing vastly more exercise, then we must be consuming more or more fattening foods.

Because toddlers have tiny stomachs and hungry toddlers are prone to meltdowns. A few puffy baby crisps or a box of raisins can save an hour of meltdowns. I used to have them on me but try not to give them if I thought they didn't need them. Tbh most of it would end up on the buggy anyway so it's not like they're eating too much

🫡

It's absolutely not.

Your blood glucose spikes every time you eat, and doing this too often leads to insulin resistance and ultimately diabetes.

Far better to eat fewer times per day.

Surely what's best for one person isn't best for everyone.
It's also not just as simple as the physiology, food and eating has masses of psychological impact as well.

For me, it's far better to eat/graze, and my natural body clock sees me eating quite late in the day, but little before 1pm. It's fine for me.

That's an extremely simplified understanding. This will vary greatly depending on your own metabolic makeup and what you eat. Fat and protein will cause hardly any spike and will combine with different kinds of carbs (simple and complex) to cause greater or lesser spikes.

Snacking regularly on complex carbohydrates plus a bit of fat and/or protein can be an extremely healthy way to eat. In fact, for many people getting so hungry that your blood sugar drops followed by a big meal is much less healthy.

Snacks for kids tend to be some cut up vegetables or a piece of fruit. Grownups don't need a snack when out, but I'm a big fan of a latte and pastry when out 😄.
Back from school many kids have a snack, say a jam sandwich or something if it's still a few hours til supper.