Snack Food Consumption Research Articles

Consumption of commercially produced snack foods and sugar-sweetened beverages during the complementary feeding period in four African and Asian urban contexts.

The availability and consumption of commercially produced foods and beverages have increased across low-income and middle-income countries. This cross-sectional survey assessed consumption of commercially produced foods and beverages among children 6-23months of age, and mothers' exposure to promotions for these products. Health facility-based interviews were conducted among 218 randomly sampled mothers utilizing child health services in Dakar, Senegal; 229 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; 228 in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal; and 222 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. In the day prior to the interview, 58.7% of 6-23-month-olds in Dakar, 23.1% in Dar es Salaam, 74.1% in Kathmandu Valley, and 55.0% in Phnom Penh had consumed a commercially produced snack food. In the previous week, the majority of children in Dakar (79.8%), Kathmandu Valley (91.2%), and Phnom Penh (80.6%) had consumed such products. Consumption of commercially produced sugar-sweetened beverages was noted among 32.0% of Phnom Penh, 29.8% of Dakar, 23.1% of Dar es Salaam, and 16.2% of Kathmandu Valley children. Maternal education was negatively associated with commercial snack food consumption in Dakar and Kathmandu Valley. Children of Phnom Penh mothers in the lowest wealth tercile were 1.5 times more likely to consume commercial snack food products, compared to wealthier mothers. These snack consumption patterns during the critical complementary feeding period demand attention; such products are often high in added sugars and salt, making them inappropriate for infants and young children.

Development, quality evaluation and estimated contribution of composite flour snack foods to nutrient requirements of young children aged 2 to 6 years

Snack food consumption is an avenue for the young children of the world to meet their daily nutrient requirements. In recent times, biscuits and cakes prepared from a cocktail of grain and root crops have gained much popularity due to the versatile nature and nutritional quality of their composite flours. Flour samples prepared from broken rice fractions, soybeans, and orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) were used to develop appropriate formulations with wheat flour to obtain a final blend composition of 60% wheat flour, 10% rice flour, 15% OFSP and 15% soybean flour, aimed at achieving fairly high nutrient contributions in the blends with regards to protein, vitamin A, iron and zinc without necessarily sacrificing the potential aesthetic, functional and sensory characteristics of the final products. The final blend obtained was used for the preparation of cake bread and biscuit snack foods for young children aged 2 to 6 years old. The products were evaluated for their physicochemical and sensory properties as well as their possible contribution to Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs). Significant improvements in the protein, vitamin A, zinc and iron contents were achieved with the composite blends for both products. Consumer acceptability of the products was also appreciably high. At a moderate daily consumption rate of two 1-cm slices of the cake bread (approximately 54.0 g) or two pieces of biscuit (approximately 44.0 g), children aged 2 to 3 years will satisfy over 30, 110, 20 and 8% of their RDAs for protein, vitamin A, iron and zinc, respectively. Older children who can consume more than the amounts stipulated above could have greater percentages of their RDA satisfied. Effective promotion of the production and consumption of such products is required to help improve micronutrient consumption by young children. Key words: Biscuit, cake bread, children, complementary snacks, micronutrient, Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs).

Implementing a Health and Wellbeing Programme for Children in Early Childhood: A Preliminary Study.

In New Zealand, there is a high prevalence of childhood poverty and food insecurity, which can impact a family’s ability to provide high quality, nutrient dense foods for their children. In an attempt to increase the quality of the food consumed by children attending a decile two (low socio-economic) kindergarten and to address food insecurity issues, an educational health and wellness initiative, in conjunction with a free lunch programme, was introduced. The impact of the lunches and the effectiveness of the programme were evaluated. Baseline and end-intervention 24-h modified dietary recall questionnaire data and a vegetable- and fruit-specific food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) were collected. A follow-up FFQ was administered six months after the end of the intervention. The nutrient composition of the foods recorded in the 24-h recall questionnaires were analysed using FoodWorks8™. Whilst no significant differences were observed with the intakes of individual nutrients, there was a significant decrease in the consumption of ultra-processed snack foods (p = 0.015). The results of the follow-up FFQ, including the comments collected from the parents, suggested that the intervention had a longer-term positive impact on not only the children involved in the study but also on their whānau (wider family members)

Emerging Disparities in Dietary Sodium Intake from Snacking in the US Population.

Background: The US population consumes dietary sodium well in excess of recommended levels. It is unknown how the contribution of snack foods to sodium intake has changed over time, and whether disparities exist within specific subgroups of the US population. Objective: To examine short and long term trends in the contribution of snack food sources to dietary sodium intake for US adults and children over a 37-year period from 1977 to 2014. Methods: We used data collected from eight nationally representative surveys of food intake in 50,052 US children aged 2–18 years, and 73,179 adults aged 19+ years between 1977 and 2014. Overall, patterns of snack food consumption, trends in sodium intake from snack food sources and trends in food and beverage sources of sodium from snack foods across race-ethnic, age, gender, body mass index, household education and income groups were examined. Results: In all socio-demographic subgroups there was a significant increase in both per capita sodium intake, and the proportion of sodium intake derived from snacks from 1977–1978 to 2011–2014 (p < 0.01). Those with the lowest household education, Non-Hispanic Black race-ethnicity, and the lowest income had the largest increase in sodium intake from snacks. While in 1977–1978 Non-Hispanic Blacks had a lower sodium intake from snacks compared to Non-Hispanic Whites (p < 0.01), in 2011–2014 they had a significantly higher intake. Conclusions: Important disparities are emerging in dietary sodium intake from snack sources in Non-Hispanic Blacks. Our findings have implications for future policy interventions targeting specific US population subgroups.

Effect of a Pre‐Dinner Snack on Buffet Meal Caloric Consumption in College Freshman

Post adolescent weight gain is a concern among college freshman, especially those enrolled in cafeteria meal plans. Snack consumption prior to a meal could alter feeding behavior during the meal. Healthy college students (n=57; age 18.3±0.1) received one of three treatments 60 minute before choosing and eating a cafeteria dinner meal (no snack (NS; control), 190 Cal of gummi bear candy (GB), or a 190 Cal serving of California walnuts (CW) 60 minutes prior to dinner in single cross‐over fashion on 3 of 5 semi‐consecutive nights. Meal images before and after consumption were used for nutritional analysis and the determination of the calories that were consumed and unconsumed (left over on tray) at the end of the meal. This study highlights the complex interaction between pre‐dinner snack choice and food consumption during a meal in a homogeneous college population. Understanding how nut consumption influences this feeding pattern could help clinicians improve dietary health.Support or Funding InformationCalifornia Walnut Commission

Multicontextual correlates of energy-dense, nutrient-poor snack food consumption by adolescents

Frequent consumption of energy-dense, nutrient-poor snack foods is an eating behavior of public health concern. This study was designed to inform strategies for reducing adolescent intake of energy-dense snack foods by identifying individual and environmental influences. Surveys were completed in 2009–2010 by 2540 adolescents (54% females, mean age = 14.5 ± 2.0, 80% nonwhite) in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota schools. Daily servings of energy-dense snack food was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire that asked about consumption of 21 common snack food items, such as potato chips, cookies, and candy. Data representing characteristics of adolescents' environments were collected from parents/caregivers, friends, school personnel, Geographic Information System sources, and a content analysis of favorite television shows. Linear regression was used to examine relationships between each individual or environmental characteristic and snack food consumption in separate models and also to examine relationships in a model including all of the characteristics simultaneously. The factors found to be significantly associated with higher energy-dense snack food intake represented individual attitudes/behaviors (e.g., snacking while watching television) and characteristics of home/family (e.g., home unhealthy food availability), peer (friends' energy-dense snack food consumption), and school (e.g., student snack consumption norms) environments. In total, 25.5% of the variance in adolescents' energy-dense snack food consumption was explained when factors from within each context were examined together. The results suggest that the design of interventions targeting improvement in the dietary quality of adolescents' snack food choices should address relevant individual factors (e.g., eating while watching television) along with characteristics of their home/family (e.g., limiting the availability of unhealthy foods), peer (e.g., guiding the efforts of a peer leader in making healthy choices), and school environments (e.g., establishing student norms for selecting nutrient-dense snack foods).

The effect of combined avoidance and control training on implicit food evaluation and choice

BackgroundContinual exposure to food cues in the environment contributes to unhealthy eating behaviour. According to dual-process models, such behaviour is partly determined by automatic processing of unhealthy food cues (e.g., approach bias), which fails to be regulated by controlled processing (e.g., inhibitory control). The current study aimed to investigate the effect of combined avoidance and control training on implicit evaluation (liking), choice, and consumption of unhealthy snack food. MethodParticipants were 240 undergraduate women who were randomly allocated to one of four experimental conditions of a 2 (avoidance training: training versus control) x 2 (control training: training versus control) between-subjects design. ResultsThe combined training group had a more negative implicit evaluation of unhealthy food than either of the two training conditions alone or the control condition. In addition, participants trained to avoid unhealthy food cues subsequently made fewer unhealthy snack food choices. No significant group differences were found for food intake. LimitationsParticipants were women generally of a healthy weight. Overweight or obese individuals may derive greater benefit from combined training. ConclusionsResults lend support to the theoretical predictions of dual-process models, as the combined training reduced implicit liking of unhealthy food. At a practical level, the findings have implications for the effectiveness of interventions targeting unhealthy eating behaviour.

The Effect of Wearing an Obese Body Suit on Snack Food Consumption and Alcohol Consumption

A previous study showed that wearing an obese body suit results in increased snack food consumption. The aim of this study was to explore mechanisms that may explain the effect that wearing an obese body suit has on snack food consumption. We examined two potential explanations; that the psychosocial experience of being overweight resulted in stereotype consistent behaviour (overeating) or in impairments to self-control. Ninety-four women participated in a laboratory study in which they were asked to wear an obese body suit or control clothing in a public setting, before being given access to snack food and alcohol. Clothing condition had no effect on snack food or alcohol consumption. It is possible that the presence of alcohol in the taste test removed the previously observed effect of the obese body suit on snack food consumption.

Obesity and associated factors in young adults attending tertiary institutions in south-eastern Nigeria

Objective: To assess prevalence of overweight/obesity and associated factors in a group of university undergraduates in south-east Nigeria.Design: Cross-sectional survey.Setting: Five tertiary institutions in south-east Nigeria.Methods: A total of 1610 undergraduates were selected using multistage sampling. A validated questionnaire on socio-demographic, dietary and lifestyle factors was used. Variables studied included body mass index (BMI), waist:hip ratio (WHR) and blood pressure (BP). Descriptive statistics and Chi square test were used for data analyses.Results: Prevalence of obesity and overweight were 6.5% [4.2% males; 8.4% females (p < 0.05)] and 13.4% [8.4% males; 17.7% females (p < 0.05)], respectively. A higher prevalence of central obesity and abdominal obesity was found in the females (15.7% and 27.2%, respectively) compared to the males (1.1% and 2.4%, respectively) (p < 0.05). Consumption of unhealthy snack foods (X2 = 13.39), being a female (X2=47.91), first year student (X2 = 41.82), and having high systolic (X2 = 88.18) and diastolic (X2 = 10.17) BP were associated with obesity (p < 0.05).Conclusions: Prevalence of obesity was high in the studied population and, if left unchecked, portends deleterious consequences, especially with respect to the development of cardiovascular diseases.

A Nutrition Education Intervention Trial for Adolescent Girls in Isfahan: Study Design and Protocol

BackgroundNutrition behaviors of adolescent girls is of serious health concerns. Although nutrition education interventions in Iran have met with some success, most of them could not promote nutrition behavioral changes. The aim of our study is to determine a school-based nutrition education intervention to improve adolescents’ nutrition behaviors and behavioral mediators based on the social cognitive theory (SCT).Materials and MethodsThis study is a single-blind randomized controlled trial. Eligible participants will be all student girls in grade 6 and 7, their parents and teachers in Isfahan governmental schools. This multi com‌ponent school-based intervention include adolescents’ nutrition education package, parents’ nutrition massages, participatory homework, parents and teachers nutrition education package, supportive group, and collaboration with decision makers. Changing in nutrition behaviors including breakfast, fruit and vegetable, snack and fast food consumption will be examined, as primary outcome. Secondary outcome will be behavioral mediators such as knowledge, self-efficacy, intention, situation, self-regulation, social support, outcome expectations and expectancies, in adolescent girls. The outcomes will be assessed at baseline, and after 3 and 6-month follow-up.DiscussionThis study evaluates a school-based, guided SCT intervention, designed to improve healthy dietary behaviors, nutrition knowledge of adolescent girls. Few behavioral interventions have targeted this high-risk population in Iran. The intervention seems to be promising and has the potential to bridge the gap of the limited program outcomes of nutrition education in Iranian adolescents.

Comparison between pamphlets and SMS on patterns of breakfast and between meal based on the health belief model among girl students of high schools in Sheiban city during academic year 2015-2016

Nutrition has a direct role in creating, maintaining and improving of health. Breakfast is considered as one of the main meals and snacks as a major part of energy and nutrients supplier for children. This study aim to comparison between pamphlets and SMS instruction on breakfast and snack food consumption pattern based on the Health Belief Model among girls in high schools of Sheiban City. This intervention study involved three groups that were conducted by the two intervention groups and a control group among 300 female high school students. To determine the samples, three schools of girls and from each school 100 students were selected using random sampling method. The tools of data collection was a questionnaire which validated by a panel of experts and test-retest reliability and Cronbach's alpha calculation. Educational intervention was distribution of pamphlets and texting to the pamphlet and SMS groups, respectively. The statistical analysis of variance and covariance of collected data were performed by SPSS software version 22. The results were significant at level of P≤0.05. Comparing the two control and tested groups showed that mean score of Health Belief Model (susceptibility, severity, benefits, barriers, self-efficacy and cues to action) as well as breakfast and snack food consumption behavior scores of students significantly increased after the educational intervention in the intervention group compared to the control, but the education effects in both groups were similar. Education based on Health Belief Model by SMS and pamphlets was effective on breakfast and snack consumption behavior. There was no significant difference between educational effects of two methods.

Fast food consumption behaviors in high-school students based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)

Background: Studies report inappropriate snack and junk food consumption patterns in children and young adults in Iran. The current survey was aimed to explore fast food consumption behaviors in high-school students based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was done among 500 high-school students. Samples were selected based on cluster sampling method at first and simple random at second. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. To analyze, SPSS-16 and tests, including t-test, Chi-square, correlation coefficient and multiple regressions were used. Results: The monthly frequency of fast food consumption was 4.01. The TPB explained fast food use behaviors with R2 of 0.6, effectively. Results also represented that frequency of fast food consumption was meaningfully in line with behavioral intention (β = 0.60, P < 0.05) and subjective norms (β = 0.17, P < 0.05). Conclusion: It seems likely beneficial to consider important subjective norms (especially friends) that may strongly effect on high-school student intention to use fast food. Also students perceived behavioral control must be increased.

Individual and Environmental Correlates of Adolescents’ Energy-Dense Snack Food Consumption

This study among an ethnically/racially diverse adolescent population was designed to identify the most important individual and environmental (home/family, peer, school, neighborhood, media) influences associated with intake of energy-dense snack foods. Surveys and food frequency questionnaires were completed in 2009-2010 by 2,540 adolescents (54% girls, mean age=14.5±2.0, 80% nonwhite) in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota schools as part of EAT 2010. Data representing characteristics of adolescents’ environments were collected from parents/caregivers, friends, school personnel, Geographic Information System sources, and online media (e.g. network websites). Daily servings of energy-dense snack food was estimated by reported consumption of 21 common snack food items, such as potato chips, cookies, and candy. Multiple regression models examined factors related to estimated daily servings and controlled for adolescent age, ethnicity/race, and socioeconomic status. The total variance in energy-dense snack food intake explained by individual and environmental characteristics was 28%. When the contexts were considered separately, individual attitudes and behaviors (e.g., snacking while watching television) were most predictive of snack food intake and explained 23% of variance; home/family (e.g., home food availability) and peer (e.g., friends’ snack food consumption) characteristics respectively explained 17% and 10% of variance; school, neighborhood, and media characteristics (e.g., classroom food policies) were least predictive of adolescent snack food intake and respectively explained 10%, 8%, and 8% of variance. Results emphasize the need for refining future studies of school, neighborhood, and media environments to explain additional variance in snack food consumption and the importance of working with adolescents, their families, and friends to address proximal factors as part of interventions designed to promote healthy snack food choices.

Behavioral sensitization of the reinforcing value of food: What food and drugs have in common

Sensitization is a basic property of the nervous system whereby repeated exposure to a stimulus results in an increase in responding to that stimulus. This increase in responding contributes to difficulty with treatment of drug abuse, as stimuli associated with substance use become signals or triggers for drug craving and relapse. Our work over the past decade has applied the theoretical framework of incentive sensitization to overeating. We have shown, in several studies, that lean adults do not commonly demonstrate behavioral sensitization after repeated exposure to snack food, but a subset of obese adults reliably does. This review will discuss this change in behavioral response to repeated consumption of snack food in obese individuals and apply the theoretical framework of incentive sensitization to drugs of abuse to high fat/high sugar snack foods. We will also show data that suggest that behavioral sensitization to repeated administration of snack food is predictive of weight gain, which may enhance its utility as a diagnostic tool for identifying at-risk individuals for obesity. Finally, we will discuss the future directions of this line of research, including studying the phenomenon in children and adolescents and determining if similar principles can be used to increase motivation to eat healthier food. A combination of reductions in unhealthy food intake and increases and healthy food intake is necessary to reduce obesity rates and improve health.

Perceived stress and dietary choices: The moderating role of stress management

Many college students exhibit unhealthy eating behaviors, consuming large quantities of high-fat foods and few fruits and vegetables. Perceived stress has been linked to daily dietary choices among college students; however, this work has been conducted among predominantly white, female populations. The role of perceived stress management in moderating this relationship is unclear. This study investigated the relationship between perceived stress and dietary choices among a diverse sample of male and female college freshmen and assessed whether perceived ability to manage stress moderated this relationship. 613 students from a large, public university completed an online survey which assessed past week consumption of various foods and beverages (e.g. soda, fast food, fruits, vegetables), as well as perceived stress and ability to manage stress. Hierarchical linear regression examined the association between perceived stress and past week dietary choices, and the moderating effect of perceived ability to manage stress, controlling for demographic variables. Perceived stress was positively associated with past week soda, coffee, energy drink, salty snack, frozen food, and fast food consumption (p<0.05). Perceived stress management moderated the relationship between stress and sweet snack consumption. Individuals who reported low ability to manage stress consumed greater amounts. Findings indicate greater stress is associated with poor dietary choices among college freshmen. The relationship between stress and sweet snack consumption was exacerbated among those who reported low ability to manage stress. It may be important for college nutrition education programs to focus on the relationship between stress and diet and promote effective stress management techniques.

The effect of heightened awareness of observation on consumption of a multi-item laboratory test meal in females

Human eating behaviour is often studied in the laboratory, but whether the extent to which a participant believes that their food intake is being measured influences consumption of different meal items is unclear. Our main objective was to examine whether heightened awareness of observation of food intake affects consumption of different food items during a lunchtime meal. One hundred and fourteen female participants were randomly assigned to an experimental condition designed to heighten participant awareness of observation or a condition in which awareness of observation was lower, before consuming an ad libitum multi-item lunchtime meal in a single session study. Under conditions of heightened awareness, participants tended to eat less of an energy dense snack food (cookies) in comparison to the less aware condition. Consumption of other meal items and total energy intake were similar in the heightened awareness vs. less aware condition. Exploratory secondary analyses suggested that the effect heightened awareness had on reduced cookie consumption was dependent on weight status, as well as trait measures of dietary restraint and disinhibition, whereby only participants with overweight/obesity, high disinhibition or low restraint reduced their cookie consumption. Heightened awareness of observation may cause females to reduce their consumption of an energy dense snack food during a test meal in the laboratory and this effect may be moderated by participant individual differences.

An exploration of exercise-induced cognitive enhancement and transfer effects to dietary self-control

The primary objective of this study was to examine the effects of aerobic exercise on executive function, specifically inhibitory control, and the transfer to self-control in the dietary domain. It was hypothesized that exercise would enhance inhibitory control, and that this enhancement would facilitate self-control in a laboratory taste test paradigm. Using a crossover design, 51 participants completed counterbalanced sessions of both moderate exercise (experimental condition) and minimal effort walking (control condition) using a treadmill; the intersession interval was 7days. Prior to each exercise bout participants completed a Stroop task. Following each bout participants completed a second Stoop task, as well as a bogus taste test involving three appetitive calorie dense snack foods and two control foods; the amount of each food type consumed during the taste test was covertly measured. Results revealed that moderate exercise significantly improved performance on the Stroop task, and also reduced food consumption during the taste test for appetitive calorie dense snack foods; there was no exercise effect on control food consumption. Exercise-induced gains in Stroop performance mediated the effects of moderate exercise on appetitive snack food consumption. Together these findings provide evidence that a bout of a moderate aerobic exercise can enhance inhibitory control, and support for cross-domain transfer effects to dietary self-control.

Presence of Candy and Snack Food at Checkout in Chain Stores: Results of a Pilot Study.

Community health professionals must use multiple strategies to address the rising rates of childhood obesity in the United States. One such strategy is to address the underlying causes of childhood obesity, including lack of exercise and the consumption of calorically-dense snack foods. This study examines the presence of candy and snack food in the checkout lines of all retail chain stores in a selected community to determine the presence of these products, the ways in which these products are promoted, and the type of physical environment through which customers navigate during the checkout process. The findings confirm that candy, soft drinks, snacks, and ice cream were present in a large majority of these retail stores. Further, this pilot study found that many of these stores "corral" customers through the check-out line in such a way that it is necessary to pass these snack foods directly. Three themes for discussion emerged from the review of the data collected, including product marketing, product packaging, and product placement. Implications for childhood health are presented in the context of these marketing strategies. The results and subsequent discussion provide important insight into the ways in which the presence of candy and snack food at checkout lines might contribute to childhood obesity rates.

Mindful decision making and inhibitory control training as complementary means to decrease snack consumption

ObjectiveObesity is largely attributable to excess caloric intake, in particular from “junk” foods, including salty snack foods. Evidence suggests that neurobiological preferences to consume highly hedonic foods translate (via implicit processes) into poor eating choices, unless overturned by inhibitory mechanisms or interrupted by explicit processes. The primary aim of the current study was to test the independent and combinatory effects of a computerized inhibitory control training (ICT) and a mindful decision-making training (MDT) designed to facilitate de-automatization. MethodsWe randomized 119 habitual salty snack food eaters to one of four short, training conditions: MDT, ICT, both MDT and ICT, or neither (i.e., psychoeducation). For 7 days prior to the intervention and 7 days following the intervention, participants reported on their salty snack food consumption 2 times per day, on 3 portions of their days, using a smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment system. Susceptibility to emotional eating cues was measured at baseline. ResultsResults indicated that the effect of MDT was consistent across levels of trait emotional eating, whereas the benefit of ICT was apparent only at lower levels of emotional eating. No synergistic effect of MDT and ICT was detected. ConclusionsThese results provide qualified support for the efficacy of both types of training for decreasing hedonically-motivated eating. Moderation effects suggest that those who eat snack foods for reasons unconnected to affective experiences (i.e., lower in emotional eating) may derive benefit from a combination of ICT and MDT. Future research should investigate the additive benefit of de-automization training to standard weight loss interventions.

Children Are Eating Savory Snack Foods: What We Eat in America, NHANES 2011–2012

The savory snack market is over $28 billion yearly and advertising often targets children; however, data are limited on the consumption of such products among children. This research examined the percentage of U.S. children who consumed chips, flavored snacks, popcorn and pretzels (referred to here as savory snack foods) on a given day during 2011–2012. The studysample included nationally representative data from individuals aged 2–19 years(n=3132), participating in What We Eat in America (WWEIA), NHANES2011–2012. Dietary intake data, obtained from an in‐person 24‐hour recall, were collected using the interviewer‐administered 5‐step USDA Automated Multiple‐Pass Method. The WWEIA Food Categories were used to estimate the percentages of children who consumed potato chips, tortilla/corn/otherchips, popcorn, and pretzels/snack mix at least once, any time during the intake day. Overall, 43.9 ± 1.6% (mean ±SE) of children consumed savory snack foods on any given day. Among race/ethnicity groups, a greater percentage of non‐Hispanic black children (50.4± 2.9%) consumed savory snack foods on a day compared to non‐Hispanic white (44.0± 2.5%), Hispanic (42.5 ± 2.2%) or non‐Hispanic Asian (40.1 ± 3.3%) children. By age group, the percentage consuming was40.5% (2–5 yr), 47.8% (6–11 yr) and 42.8% (12–19 yr). With respect to amount consumed, mean intake of savory snack foods among consumers increased with age: 27 ± 3g, 38 ± 3g and 48 ± 3g among children2–5 yr, 6–11 yr and 12–19 yr, respectively. Overall, on the day consumed, they contributed 10% of total energy and7% of total sodium; mean energy was 199 kcal and mean sodium was 230mg. The results of this research highlight the wide‐spread consumption of savory snack foods by children of all ages and race/ethnic backgrounds.Support or Funding InformationUSDA, ARS