Historically, cultural generations in America have been defined by multiple names, each representing something different about that generation. For instance, the G.I. Generation, also dubbed the Greatest Generation by journalist Tom Brokaw, includes those born from around 1916 to the mid-1920s and who came of age during the Great Depression. The Baby Boom Generation is the generation born between 1946 and the mid-1960s, a time marked by an increase in birth rates. Those born between 2000 and 2009 are being referred to as Generation Z, as well as Generation I, Digital Natives, the Internet Generation—various names given them due to their status as the first generation to grow up almost entirely within the Digital Era. But if they continue their current snacking habits, Generation Z may become known as the Generation of Non-Stop Nibblers.
After analyzing data on 31,337 children aged 2 to 18 from four different federal surveys on food and eating, researchers at the University of North Carolina discovered that on average nearly a third of the calories taken in by American kids come from snacks—food eaten outside regular meals. “Childhood snacking trends are moving toward three snacks per day, and more than 27 percent of children’s daily calories are coming from snacks,” they reported. “The largest increases have been in salty snacks and candy. Desserts and sweetened beverages remain the major sources of calories from snacks.”
Dr. Barry M. Popkin, study co-author and director of nutrition epidemiology at UNC says that while these are averages, the data showed that half of American children snack about four times a day and some appear to be eating almost constantly, consuming either snacks or meals as often as 10 times a day. “They are eating more times, and they’re not eating healthy foods,” Popkin said. “It would be great if they were eating fruits and vegetables and reduced-fat milk—and every now and then a cookie or two—but the foods are going from bad to worse.”
The data showed that, compared with children in the late 1970s, today’s kids are scarfing down 168 more snack calories per day, with 2-to-6-year-olds consuming an extra 182 calories a day. CBS News medical correspondent, Dr. Jon LaPook says that when you put that increase into perspective, at 3,500 calories per pound it translates to an extra 17.5 pounds a year.
“We have to reduce the number of snacks kids are eating, but we also have to change their choices,” said study co-author Carmen Piernas. “Kids are eating high-fat snacks and fruit juices out of vending machines, instead of eating fresh fruits and milk,” unhealthy choices that may lead to iron deficiencies, delays in physical development and poor school performance.
A second study by researchers at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis-St. Paul shows just how available those unhealthy choices are. Data found that vending machines were available in 21 percent of U.S. public elementary schools, 62 percent of public middle schools, and 86 percent of public high schools. The study authors, led by Nicole Larson at the University’s department of food science and nutrition, said that while schools depend on competitive foods for revenue, “the data do not show that improving the nutritional quality of competitive food or restricting certain food or beverages hurts school revenue.”
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