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Snacking Behaviors, Diet Quality, and Body Mass Index in a Community Sample of Working Adults

Snacking behavior (eating between main meals) has been increasing among during the last several decades. Some researchers hypothesized that snacking is associated with weight gain due to increase fat and carbohydrate consumption. Others have found it is linked to balancing the energy intake throughout the day and decrease overeating from main meals.

A research by Barnes et al., (2015) was done to measure sacking behavior and its association with diet quality and BMI. Three days dietary intake of 233 adults was measured and snacking behavior (type/quantity/time of snacks consumed between meals) were assessed. The USDA healthy eating quality index was used to assess diet quality. Data shows that snacking behavior occur 2 times per day on average for each participant with mean energy intake of 400 calories. The most consumed snacks among participants were cakes and cookies, followed by the chips and crackers category. This study failed to find significant association between snacking behavior (energy content, time of the day, frequency) in relation to diet quality and BMI. The researchers argue that there is no standard definition for snacking, as some researchers will define it according to the time of the day snack is consumed, others may define it according to the nutrient content.

There are many factors that could determine the effect of snacking on health, such as nutrient content and the amount consumed of the snack item (quality and quantity), also the timing of the day, for instance, evening snacking may interfere with energy balance negatively. Further research is needed in order to measure the effect of snacking behavior on diet quality of adults.


Reference:

Barnes, T. L., French, S. A., Harnack, L. J., Mitchell, N. R., & Wolfson, J. (2015). Snacking Behaviors, Diet Quality, and Body Mass Index in a Community Sample of Working Adults. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

AA

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