The effects of snacking on caloric intake were more pronounced in those who were overweight or obese or who were from low-involvement families.
A healthy snack of
cheese and vegetables can satisfy a child's appetite while also resulting in
the consumption of fewer calories, researchers found.
In a study measuring
children's snack consumption when presented with various snack options while
watching television, those given a combination vegetable and cheese snack
consumed significantly fewer calories before being satiated than those who were
served potato chips, according to Brian Wansink, PhD, of Cornell University in
Ithaca, N.Y., and colleagues.
The effects of
snacking on caloric intake were more pronounced in those who were overweight or
obese or who were from low-involvement families, the wrote online inPediatrics.
The authors noted
that, although other factors, such as reduced physical activity, contribute to
childhood obesity, the increase in snacking — up to an average of three snacks
per day from one snack per day 30 years ago — and in consumption of
non-nutrient dense snacks "are considered major factors associated with
childhood obesity."
They added that
"strategies for curbing [non-nutrient dense snack] consumption are
needed" to offset the "present and growing problem" of childhood
obesity.
The researchers
analyzed whether children eating a combination snack of cheese and vegetables
would consume fewer calories, and require fewer calories to become satiated
than children eating chips.
They also looked at
whether heavier children eating the combination snack would consume fewer
calories than healthier-weight children, and if children in families with low
involvement would eat fewer calories of the combination snack than those from
high-involvement families.
The sample size
consisted of 183 children (104 female) with an average age of 8.7. The mean
body mass index was 20.3 kg/m2.
Among all the
participants, 38 were considered overweight, and 43 were considered obese according to the
CDC's BMI-for-age growth chart. The majority of overweight (55%) and obese
(63%) children in the study were from low-involvement families.
Participants were
randomized to one of four snacking conditions, including potato chips only, vegetables
only, cheese only, and cheese and vegetables. The children were allowed to
snack freely while watching 45 minutes of TV.
Children's satiety was
measured before they were allowed to snack, immediately after watching TV and
being allowed to freely snack, and 20 minutes after snacking through a
three-question, nine-point scale questionnaire. Satiety was indexed by dividing
calories consumed by satiety increases from the first measure to the third
measure and used to determine the average number of calories of a snack
required to satiate hunger.
The cheese only and
vegetable only conditions were controls "to examine how much children in
the combo condition consumed compared with those in the control groups."
In addition to the
satiety measures, participants' parents filled out 20-item questionnaires
regarding mealtime habits, including family involvement during mealtimes and
mealtime activities and interactions.
Participants in both
the combination and control conditions consumed significantly fewer calories
than those who snacked on chips, at 170 mean calories in the cheese and vegetable
group, 60 mean calories in the vegetable only group, and 200 mean calories in
the cheese only group, versus 620 mean calories in the chip group.
"It is worth
noting that children offered the combination snack consumed about the same
amount of vegetables as those offered vegetables only," they wrote.
In a comparison of
satiety between the combination and chip groups, combination healthy snack
eaters needed significantly fewer calories before they were satiated (53
calories versus 282.4 calories), making the combination snack "a more
calorie-effective means to attain satiety than potato chips."
When comparing effects
of age, sex, weight status, and family involvement on caloric intake, only
obesity or overweight and family had a significant effect on lower calorie
consumption, where children in the combination snack condition ate 16-points
fewer (76% versus 60%) and 10-points fewer (77% versus 67%) calories than those
in the chip condition.
The authors noted
that, while banning non-nutritional snacks entirely from a child's diet may not
be practical, offering a healthy combination snack alternative or as a
replacement should cause "less fear of backlash" than complete
removal of non-nutrient dense foods.
The study had some
limitations, most notably the authors did not examine the processes underlying
why the combination healthy snack led to less caloric intake compared with a
non-nutrient dense snack.
"Additional
research is needed...to appreciate the underlying physiological and
psychological processes [and] the impact of combination snacks on intake over
time also needs to be explored," they said.