Mar 2, 2010

Barry Popkin and co-author Carmen Piernas studied snacking trends of U.S children and found that “childhood snacking trends are moving toward three snacks per day, and more than 27 percent of children’s daily calories are coming from snacks.” (Source: Piernas, Carmen, and Barry M. Popkin. 2010. Trends in Snacking among U.S. Children. Health Affairs 29, no. 3: 398-404.)

Popkin is a Carolina Population Center Faculty Fellow and Carla Steel Chamblee Distinguished Professor of Global Nutrition at UNC-Chapel Hill. UNC News Services issued a release about the study here.

Many news outlets have reported the study’s findings:

Children are hungrier for snacks, study finds (LA Times, March 2, 2010)
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-snacks2-2010mar02,0,7910490.story

Kids pack on the calories with frequent, unhealthy snacks (USA Today, March 2, 2010)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/weightloss/2010-03-02-snacking02_ST_N.htm

Snacks mean U.S. kids moving toward “constant eating” (Reuters, March 2, 2010)
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6210HC20100302

Snack-Food Cravings Turn U.S. Children into Constant Eaters (Business Week, March 2, 2010)
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-02/snack-food-cravings-turn-u-s-children-into-constant-eaters.html

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