Do kids really need snacks?!

[Guest]

CAN I HAVE A SNACK?!
Can we talk about snacks?
What is a snack?

I started off giving my baby a snack, usually when they were screaming hungry, if we were on a long journey and were going to be late for a meal.

How has snack time become 15 times a day? Then they don't eat decent meals, and people wonder why.

Do kids really need snacks?!

[Emma]

This is a good point. I noticed when I was a new mum that many parents had a constant supply of snacks. The kids would get used to it. So when I was out I took cooked vegetables out. Like peas and sweetcorn instead of processed snacks.

[Chloe]

Snack basket!
It will change your life!
My daughter makes her snack basket every morning herself she's 6.
She is allowed 2 fruit and 2 veg,
one carb based thing like bread sticks (usually 3 bread sticks)
and a dairy option (yoghurts or cheese usually)
And one treat.
(Can be anything from a mini bag of haribos, to a packet of quavers, or a few squares of chocolate, a bag of iced gems or some fruit yo-yos.
But once the snack box is gone, it's gone and there's no more snacking.

[Jo Chow]

My kids need a snack halfway between breakfast and lunch, and often another immediately after school (we can often have dinner 'late' by kid-standards). Small, and only enough to keep their blood sugars up and tide them till their main meal.

[Nicola]

Kids need snacks because they have small tummies and can’t eat enough at meals times alone to sustain them.

Apparently so do teens

[Amy]

I always offer my daughter fruit so if she turns it down then I know she isn't hungry she is just fanciful.

[Deryn]

Snacks are just mini meals. A protein, carb, and fruit or veg. Yes they need it. Their stomachs are smaller.

[Jessica]

Unpopular opinion but I give snacks freely. I myself don't fancy 3 meals a day and would rather eat little and often than a meal. As long as you get a balanced diet what's the big deal?