37 year snacking trends for US children 1977–2014

Summary Background Previous studies have indicated that snacking is contributing to increased calorie intake of American children and that the energy density of snacks in US diets has increased in recent decades. Objective Examine short‐term and long‐term trends in the energy density and food sources of snacks for US children from 1977 to 2014, and examine whether trends differ between socio‐demographic groups. Methods We used data collected from eight nationally representative surveys of food intake in 49,952 US children age 2–18 years, between 1977 and 2014. Overall patterns of snacking, trends in energy intake from snacking, trends in food and beverage sources and energy density of snacks across race‐ethnic, age, gender, education and income groups were examined. Results In all socio‐demographic groups, there was a significant increase in per capita energy intake deriving from snacks from 1977 to 2014 (P