Snacking

About: Snacking is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1408 publications have been published within this topic receiving 45216 citations.

Priming Effects of Television Food Advertising on Eating Behavior

Abstract: Objective: Health advocates have focused on the prevalence of advertising for calorie-dense low-nutrient foods as a significant contributor to the obesity epidemic This research tests the hypothesis that exposure to food advertising during TV viewing may also contribute to obesity by triggering automatic snacking of available food Design: In Experiments 1a and 1b, elementary-school-age children watched a cartoon that contained either food advertising or advertising for other products and received a snack while watching In Experiment 2, adults watched a TV program that included food advertising that promoted snacking and/or fun product benefits, food advertising that promoted nutrition benefits, or no food advertising The adults then tasted and evaluated a range of healthy to unhealthy snack foods in an apparently separate experiment Main Outcome Measures: Amount of snack foods consumed during and after advertising exposure Results: Children consumed 45% more when exposed to food advertising Adults consumed more of both healthy and unhealthy snack foods following exposure to snack food advertising compared to the other conditions In both experiments, food advertising increased consumption of products not in the presented advertisements, and these effects were not related to reported hunger or other conscious influences Conclusion: These experiments demonstrate the power of food advertising to prime automatic eating behaviors and thus influence far more than brand preference alone

Dietary Choices and Habits during COVID-19 Lockdown: Experience from Poland.

Abstract: The outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in late December 2019 in China, which later developed into a pandemic, has forced different countries to implement strict sanitary regimes and social distancing measures. Globally, at least four billion people were under lockdown, working remotely, homeschooling children, and facing challenges coping with quarantine and the stressful events. The present cross-sectional online survey of adult Poles (n = 1097), conducted during a nationwide quarantine, aimed to assess whether nutritional and consumer habits have been affected under these conditions. Over 43.0% and nearly 52% reported eating and snacking more, respectively, and these tendencies were more frequent in overweight and obese individuals. Almost 30% and over 18% experienced weight gain (mean ± SD 3.0 ± 1.6 kg) and loss (−2.9 ± 1.5 kg), respectively. Overweight, obese, and older subjects (aged 36–45 and >45) tended to gain weight more frequently, whereas those with underweight tended to lose it further. Increased BMI was associated with less frequent consumption of vegetables, fruit, and legumes during quarantine, and higher adherence to meat, dairy, and fast-foods. An increase in alcohol consumption was seen in 14.6%, with a higher tendency to drink more found among alcohol addicts. Over 45% of smokers experienced a rise in smoking frequency during the quarantine. The study highlights that lockdown imposed to contain an infectious agent may affect eating behaviors and dietary habits, and advocates for organized nutritional support during future epidemic-related quarantines, particularly for the most vulnerable groups, including overweight and obese subjects.

Secular trends in dietary intake in the united states

Abstract: This review focuses on dietary intake and dietary supplement use among the U.S. population age 1-74 based on four National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys conducted in 1971-74, 1976-80, 1988-94, and 1999-2000. Secular trends in intake of energy, macronutrients, cholesterol, sodium, calcium, iron, folate, zinc, vitamins A and C, fruits, vegetables, and grain products are summarized. During the 30-year period, mean energy intake increased among adults, and changed little among children age 1-19, except for an increase among adolescent females. Factors contributing to increases in energy intake include increases in the percentage of the population eating away from home (particularly at fast-food restaurants), larger portion sizes of foods and beverages, increased consumption of sweetened beverages, changes in snacking habits, and improved dietary methodology. Dietary supplement use increased among adult men and women, decreased among children age 1-5, and was stable for children age 6-11 and adolescents.

Beyond frequency: habit as mental construct.

Abstract: Progress in habit theory can be made by distinguishing habit from frequency of occurrence, and using independent measures for these constructs. This proposition was investigated in three studies using a longitudinal, cross-sectional and experimental design on eating, mental habits and word processing, respectively. In Study 1, snacking habit and past snacking frequency independently predicted later snacking behaviour, while controlling for the theory of planned behaviour variables. Habit fully mediated the effect of past on later behaviour. In Study 2, habitual negative self-thinking and past frequency of negative self-thoughts independently predicted self-esteem and the presence of depressive and anxiety symptoms. In Study 3, habit varied as a function of experimentally manipulated task complexity, while behavioural frequency was held constant. Taken together, while repetition is necessary for habits to develop, these studies demonstrate that habit should not be equated with frequency of occurrence, but rather should be considered as a mental construct involving features of automaticity, such as lack of awareness, difficulty to control and mental efficiency.