This past week the
NYTimes featured a story (“When Snacking Never Ends”) on the problems that snacking can cause
for kids. The author complains that nowadays kids never stop eating. With snack
food everywhere, kids are snacking more and less of them are eating three meals
a day. Here is our take on snacking:
Yes,
snacking can be a problem if food is used to calm, soothe, or as a reward. Snacking
can also help pass the time or to deal with boredom. Pairing snack food and
television watching is another pitfall. On the other hand, unless your meals
are substantial most people, especially children, will need two to three snacks
a day. Organized and satisfying snacks protect against bingeing.
Most children are very hungry when they
come home from school and particularly in families where dinner is served late.
Providing a snack that includes all the components of a meal (most importantly,
protein and fat) helps prevent the overeating that can happen at this time of
day if children eat more typical snack foods, such as pretzels or chips. Fruit,
certainly a healthy snack, by itself is not satisfying enough to stave off the
hunger that can trigger a binge. Many of my patients find that crackers and
cheese or peanut butter eaten with a piece of fruit is very satisfying. Another
popular snack is yogurt and granola and a piece of fruit. For those who want
something hot, macaroni and cheese works well. Most people who eat a bigger
afternoon snack will naturally eat a smaller dinner.
What
you should avoid is the situation where you fill up on less-than-nutritious
snacks in the afternoon and then pick at dinner because you are not hungry. A
small dinner is acceptable if your afternoon snack is well balanced and
contains enough protein to constitute a protein serving. One thing to watch for
in adolescents who might be at risk for developing an eating disorder is a
switch to lower-calorie food choices or skimping on snacks. If afterschool or
evening bingeing is a problem, try preparing a generous snack. A proper snack
has boundaries, meaning that its completion signals that it is time to stop
eating. Rather than crackers eaten out of the box while watching TV, a proper
snack would be crackers eaten at the kitchen table and served on a plate with a
glass of milk or juice and possibly some sliced cheese or fruit.
My patient Regina’s
story (read more about Regina and other patients in our book, The Parent’s Guide to Eating Disorders) illustrates this common mistake. Because she wanted to
lose weight, Regina did not plan to have an evening snack. But when she got
hungry while doing her homework, she grabbed a big bag of pretzels or chips
from the pantry and ate until she was uncomfortable. She ended up bingeing
almost every evening. The solution for Regina was to take a study break at nine
o’clock, the time she reported that she first generally noticed her interest in
eating.
I suggested
that at 9 p.m. Regina take a plate and two to three normal serving sizes of
foods she felt like eating, letting her appetite be the guide to what she
chose. If she felt like pretzels, she
was to measure out one serving size and be sure to add another serving of a
food she would like to eat with pretzels. Usually Regina chose a piece of
fruit. Some nights she felt more like a serving of “fun food,” (a sweet, or
salty snack eaten purely for pleasure, not for nutritional value) and wondered
if that was okay, since she usually had dessert at dinner. “No problem,” I told
her, “as long as it is one normal-size serving.”
Our best,
Marcia Herrin and
Nancy Matsumoto, authors of the Parent’s Guide to Eating Disorders, Gürze Press
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