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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:
Cottagecheeseisnotcheese · 27/03/2023 12:43

Snacking is really not so much a thing even in other places in Western Europe, in France most people only eat three times a day but they don't tend to eat lunch at their desks
Children normally get a 3 course lunch at school, then a small meal at about 4pm called "goitre" to keep them going till dinner around 7pm I think but most adults won't snack, there is less of a culture of eating or drinking on the go too
of course crisps popcorn etc exist but it's just not an every day thing
part of the dietart control of type 2 diabetes is only eating 3 times a day and not eating at all for 12 hours say 8pm- 8am
When I was a child in 70's snacking was a treat not daily like getting icecreams mid afternoon on holiday or biscuits mid morning, lots of people went home for lunch from school lunch was over an hour it was quite common to have main meal at lunch time, if we were hungry after school or sport you would get bread and butter or jam but it wasn't a regular thing but we probably had more a meal times we normally had eggs as well as cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner would have a pudding or cake afterwards

Architectahoy · 27/03/2023 12:43

OP bless you, you sound a little naive!

My dads family are obsessed with snacking - they're Asian. So I don't think snacking is a "Brit" thing.

In fact they often complain we don't have enough vending machines!

CarryMeOut · 27/03/2023 12:43

It is a major reason for obesity in the UK.

potniatheron · 27/03/2023 12:44

Hello!

A snack is a light meal. Human beings evolved as hunter gatherers, which is practice meant that most of their food came from foraging, with a big feed of a wild animal every few days. The human digestive and endocrine systems are arguably evolved to eat little and often rather thn three subtantial meals a day. Either way, think a banana or a biscuit, if one feels very hungry in between meals.

Mid afternoon is a common time to snack because blood sugar/metabolism tends to be quite low at this time. This, incidentally, is why some countries have a culture of taking a siesta in the afternoon.

"Snack" means something quite different in so-called "hookup" culture, and you should not allow your family to get involved with this form of 'snacking' at all.

If you google 'healthy snacks', you will find lots of suggestions.

Tinybrother · 27/03/2023 12:44

crackofdoom · 27/03/2023 12:42

Problem with "each to their own" is that if your kids aren't snackers, used to being offered nothing but boring toast or apples between meals at home, and you're out and about with other people who are constantly bringing out bagfuls of exciting stuff like biscuits and crisps, which they then offer to your kids, who wolf them down with glee, is that a) your kids won't then eat their nutritious dinner, and b) you look like the tight one who never brings the snacks 🤦‍♀️. It's so bloody normalised, and the processed food companies are laughing all the way to the bank.

You offer them TOAST AS A SNACK??!! that’s way too exciting for my children, they wouldn’t eat the nutritious dinner I make them after a massive toast snack

Bigminnie1 · 27/03/2023 12:44

helpfulperson · 27/03/2023 11:42

Why does mumsnet have such a hard time understanding that other countries or cultures do things differently. Its fairly obvious you don't mean you don't understand what a snack is but you mean why do we snack so frequently?

It is a fairly recent phenomenon to the extent it happens now. In the 70's we maybe had a snack after swimming but not everyday after school or every time we went to the park.

I think it's tied in with parents wanting to be their child's friend so they give them what they want.

So not true- I am 70s kid and we always had a snack after school and if we were out and about. Just because you didn't, doesn't mean it was the norm.

CarryMeOut · 27/03/2023 12:45

Cottagecheeseisnotcheese · 27/03/2023 12:43

Snacking is really not so much a thing even in other places in Western Europe, in France most people only eat three times a day but they don't tend to eat lunch at their desks
Children normally get a 3 course lunch at school, then a small meal at about 4pm called "goitre" to keep them going till dinner around 7pm I think but most adults won't snack, there is less of a culture of eating or drinking on the go too
of course crisps popcorn etc exist but it's just not an every day thing
part of the dietart control of type 2 diabetes is only eating 3 times a day and not eating at all for 12 hours say 8pm- 8am
When I was a child in 70's snacking was a treat not daily like getting icecreams mid afternoon on holiday or biscuits mid morning, lots of people went home for lunch from school lunch was over an hour it was quite common to have main meal at lunch time, if we were hungry after school or sport you would get bread and butter or jam but it wasn't a regular thing but we probably had more a meal times we normally had eggs as well as cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner would have a pudding or cake afterwards

Exactly. People eat proper meals. None of this sandwich at a desk malarkey.

crackofdoom · 27/03/2023 12:45

Also, a well prepared meal is invariably going to have a wider variety of ingredients and nutrients than your average snack food, which is usually beige carbs or fruit at the very best (and fruit is OK, but not as good as vegetables, which tend to form more of a component of an actual cooked meal).

WeWereInParis · 27/03/2023 12:45

if your kids aren't snackers, used to being offered nothing but boring toast or apples between meals at home

If they're having apples and toast, that is snacking isn't it?

ChristmasKraken · 27/03/2023 12:46

Cottagecheeseisnotcheese · 27/03/2023 12:43

Snacking is really not so much a thing even in other places in Western Europe, in France most people only eat three times a day but they don't tend to eat lunch at their desks
Children normally get a 3 course lunch at school, then a small meal at about 4pm called "goitre" to keep them going till dinner around 7pm I think but most adults won't snack, there is less of a culture of eating or drinking on the go too
of course crisps popcorn etc exist but it's just not an every day thing
part of the dietart control of type 2 diabetes is only eating 3 times a day and not eating at all for 12 hours say 8pm- 8am
When I was a child in 70's snacking was a treat not daily like getting icecreams mid afternoon on holiday or biscuits mid morning, lots of people went home for lunch from school lunch was over an hour it was quite common to have main meal at lunch time, if we were hungry after school or sport you would get bread and butter or jam but it wasn't a regular thing but we probably had more a meal times we normally had eggs as well as cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner would have a pudding or cake afterwards

Nonsense - its quite common in France to have some 'nibble' type food early evening (often because dinner itself is much later), or even have something with their children when they have their 'gouter' (not 'goitre, which is a very different thing!)

takealettermsjones · 27/03/2023 12:47

fruit is OK, but not as good as vegetables

Christ alive. The competitiveness around eating on this website is insane.

Tinybrother · 27/03/2023 12:47

Cottagecheeseisnotcheese · 27/03/2023 12:43

Snacking is really not so much a thing even in other places in Western Europe, in France most people only eat three times a day but they don't tend to eat lunch at their desks
Children normally get a 3 course lunch at school, then a small meal at about 4pm called "goitre" to keep them going till dinner around 7pm I think but most adults won't snack, there is less of a culture of eating or drinking on the go too
of course crisps popcorn etc exist but it's just not an every day thing
part of the dietart control of type 2 diabetes is only eating 3 times a day and not eating at all for 12 hours say 8pm- 8am
When I was a child in 70's snacking was a treat not daily like getting icecreams mid afternoon on holiday or biscuits mid morning, lots of people went home for lunch from school lunch was over an hour it was quite common to have main meal at lunch time, if we were hungry after school or sport you would get bread and butter or jam but it wasn't a regular thing but we probably had more a meal times we normally had eggs as well as cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner would have a pudding or cake afterwards

A “goitre” hahahahahaha a great autocorrect

a gouter is exactly a snack in terms of the range of what would fall into that category. When I was little in France some families gave the children a bowl of sugary cereal or a slab of chocolate inside a piece of baguette (I loved going to these houses of course!), many U.K. parents would be horrified

CarryMeOut · 27/03/2023 12:48

Children have to learn what hunger feels like. It is healthy to be hungry.

Upsywavy · 27/03/2023 12:48

WeWereInParis · 27/03/2023 12:45

if your kids aren't snackers, used to being offered nothing but boring toast or apples between meals at home

If they're having apples and toast, that is snacking isn't it?

There's a difference I suppose between that and having sugary, salty processed crap that doesn't offer much in the way of nutrition or keep you full. There is of course a whole ocean between the 2 extremes, but it is annoying when out with other parents and they have sweets, crisps, chocolate and whatever else in their bag because then the food yours would happily eat at home doesn't seem as appealing. It's the same peer pressure I suppose as at secondary school when it becomes uncool to have a balanced packed lunch and the pizza/vending machines/chips are more acceptable. People are certainly influenced by what those around them eat and therefore the 'each to their own' isn't entirely true.

crackofdoom · 27/03/2023 12:49

tinybrother yeah, they would even refuse toast. A sure sign they're not born snackers, I'd say.

(also, it's homemade sourdough bread. I well remember how I hated my mum's homemade wholemeal bread as a kid and used to yearn for white sliced. It's like crack cocaine, white sliced is 😆)

crackofdoom · 27/03/2023 12:51

wewereinparis no, my kids would refuse healthy snacks like fruit and toast.

Anoooshka · 27/03/2023 12:51

Upsywavy · 27/03/2023 11:40

Faux naievity is obvious.

Not necessarily. My DS went to a German primary school and I got told off by the teacher for sending in the 'wrong' food. So instead of the healthy food that I was sending for 'snack time', I should have been giving him a buttered pretzel, as that was considered healthy in that part Germany.

Reugny · 27/03/2023 12:51

heldinadream · 27/03/2023 11:19

It's because children are anarchists and feeding them at random times lessens the chances of war being declared.

😂😂

Embelline · 27/03/2023 12:52

Bizarre thread.

its like someone posting saying “I don’t understand coffee”

PousseyNotMoira · 27/03/2023 12:53

All the people going ‘we/they might get peckish’…and? There’s nothing wrong with feeling peckish. You don’t need to exist in a state of satiety. In most countries, you eat a meal and gradually get hungrier over the next few hours…then you eat another meal. The rush to assuage the first hint of ‘peckishness’ really is one of the key contributors to obesity and food issues in the U.K.

Yes, snacks exist in other countries, but they are an occasional thing - we don’t eat them all the time. We’re certainly not tucking into them all day, every day. It’s okay to occasionally be hungry!

OP, for what it’s worth, I agree with you. When I first moved to England it was a bit of a culture shock - everyone is ALWAYS eating. Grazing, snacking, nibbling. In offices, on public transport, on the street. It’s actually quite gross.

Throwaway0323 · 27/03/2023 12:53

Sometimes I have a snack because I am bored or just fancy a biscuit. My BMI is 21 so I am a healthy weight. Snacks don't have to be a bad habit to be broken, looking at the overall relationship with food and what is consumed is healthier.

Tinybrother · 27/03/2023 12:55

I am 100% behind a culture change in the U.K. where I get time for a three course sit down lunch and don’t have to eat at my desk (though not usually a sandwich as I don’t really like them), but in the meantime I have to earn a living and MN would DEFINITELY frown on someone getting fired for taking too long for lunch and not completing their work on time

Wishawisha · 27/03/2023 12:57

crackofdoom · 27/03/2023 12:42

Problem with "each to their own" is that if your kids aren't snackers, used to being offered nothing but boring toast or apples between meals at home, and you're out and about with other people who are constantly bringing out bagfuls of exciting stuff like biscuits and crisps, which they then offer to your kids, who wolf them down with glee, is that a) your kids won't then eat their nutritious dinner, and b) you look like the tight one who never brings the snacks 🤦‍♀️. It's so bloody normalised, and the processed food companies are laughing all the way to the bank.

Well these would be unhealthy snacks rather than just snacks though? Because my DC frequently each apples, bananas, tuna sandwiches, sometimes bowls of cereal etc between meals and I would say these are definite snacks.

I am a snacker or a grazer, but it doesn’t mean I always eat rubbish. Some days I do and some days I don’t. I just mean I eat little but often and my children are the same. This is how we prefer to eat.

Strawberrydelight78 · 27/03/2023 12:58

But a snack doesn't have to be crisps or sweets. It could be a piece of fruit which most wouldn't have as part of a meal. My son would pick fruit over anything he loves it.

FangsForTheMemory · 27/03/2023 12:59

Snacks have become a thing because companies market them and advertise them. As a child in the 60s I might have got a biscuit and drink mid morning but that was it. We’ve now had two generations of snackers which is why a lot of people can’t think of life without snacks.