Research
Adherence
Increased snacking frequency and reduced time between eating occasions contribute to higher energy intake and obesity, particularly among children and adults in high-income countries.
Reduce snacking frequency. The data shows that as snacking increases, so does total energy intake, especially for children. Try to consolidate eating into distinct meals rather than grazing throughout the day, and increase the time between eating occasions.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
A series of new papers of my group shows a major shift upwards in snacking and the total eating event behaviour in each of the last two decades... Energy intake, particularly from snacking, increased for both children and adults at all percentiles of the distribution. Over this period, the time between the start of each eating occasion decreased by an hour for both children and adults
Why this rating
Based on national dietary intake surveys and time-use data, which are observational but robust.
Source
Contemporary nutritional transition: determinants of diet and its impact on body composition
Barry M. Popkin · Proceedings of The Nutrition Society · 2010
DOI 10.1017/s0029665110003903
narrative_reviewCited 233×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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