Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Oct 3;16(1):65.
doi: 10.1186/s12937-017-0288-8.

Weekday snacking prevalence, frequency, and energy contribution have increased while foods consumed during snacking have shifted among Australian children and adolescents: 1995, 2007 and 2011-12 National Nutrition Surveys

Flávia Fayet-Moore  1 , Véronique Peters  2 , Andrew McConnell  3 , Peter Petocz  4 , Alison L Eldridge  2
Affiliations

Weekday snacking prevalence, frequency, and energy contribution have increased while foods consumed during snacking have shifted among Australian children and adolescents: 1995, 2007 and 2011-12 National Nutrition Surveys

Flávia Fayet-Moore et al. Nutr J. .

Abstract

Background: There are limited data on the evolution of eating habits, including snacking, in Australia. This study aimed to understand snacking trends among Australian children over three previous National Nutrition Surveys.

Methods: Data were analysed from a single weekday 24-h recall in the National Nutrition Surveys 1995, 2007, 2011-12 among children 2-16y (n = 8258). A snacking occasion was defined as an eating occasion that occurred between meals based on time of day.

Results: The percentage of children snacking increased over time (92.5 ± 0.5(SE) % in 1995, 98.1 ± 0.3% in 2007, and 95.8 ± 0.4% in 2011-12) (P < 0.001), particularly among those having four or more snacking occasions (7.1 ± 0.5% in 1995, 17.9 ± 0.6% in 2007, and 18.5 ± 0.8% in 2011-2) (P < 0.001). The mean number of snacking occasions increased from 2.0 ± 0.0 in 1995, to 2.5 ± 0.0 in 2007 and 2011-12 (P < 0.001). The energy contribution from snacking increased from 24.1 ± 0.3% in 1995 to 27.7 ± 0.3% in 2007 and 30.5 ± 0.4% in 2011-12 (P < 0.001), while the energy from discretionary food during snacking decreased from 56.5 ± 0.7% in 1995 to 47.3 ± 0.5% in 2007 and 47.9 ± 0.7% in 2011-12 (P < 0.001). There were differences in the top foods consumed during snacking: non-alcoholic beverages were prominent contributors in 1995 but not in 2007 or 2011, and pome fruit was the second top energy contributor during snacking in 2007 and 2011 but only fourth in 1995.

Conclusions: Snacking is a prominent dietary pattern that has increased over time in frequency and energy contribution. Foods and beverages consumed during snacking occasions include a mix of core foods and discretionary foods, and while the contribution of discretionary foods has decreased, there is still an opportunity to encourage consumption of more nutrient dense foods during snacking.

Keywords: Dietary pattern; Nutrition survey; Snack; Snacking; Trends.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The interview components of the 1995 and 2011–12 were conducted under the Census and Statistics Act 1905. Ethics approval was not necessary for those surveys. In 2007, ethics approval was obtained from the National Health and Medical Research Council registered Ethics Committees of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and the University of South Australia.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

FFM, AM, and PP declare that they have no competing interests. VP and ALE are employed by the funding body.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Mean number of snacking occasions by age group, sex, and year, adjusted for energy intake and underreporting. In 1995, for 2-3y n = 321, 4-8y n = 795, 9-13y n = 758, 14-16y n = 466. In 2007, for 2-3y n = 460, 4-8y n = 1275, 9-13y n = 1198, 14-16y n = 704. In 2011–12, for 2-3y n = 310, 4-8y n = 748, 9-13y n = 802, 14-16y n = 421
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Mean per capita contribution of each eating period to total energy intake among Australian children 2-16y, based on National Nutrition Surveys from 1995, 2007 and 2011–12. Different superscripts a, b denote significant difference (P < 0.001, post hoc Bonferroni) between years for the same meal or snack period. In 1995 n = 2340, 2007 n = 3637, 2011–12 n = 2281
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lobstein T, Baur L, Uauy R, TaskForce IIO. Obesity in children and young people: a crisis in public health. Obes Rev. 2004;5(Suppl 1):4–104. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-789X.2004.00133.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. World Health Organisation . Interim Report of the Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity. Geneva: WHO; 2015.
    1. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Australian Health Survey: First results, 2014–15. ABS, Canberra, 2015.
    1. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Profiles of Health, Australia, 2011–13: Children's risk factors. ABS, Canberra, 2013.
    1. Adair LS, Popkin BM. Are child eating patterns being transformed globally? Obes Res. 2005;13:1281–1299. doi: 10.1038/oby.2005.153. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources