ReviewAdvances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.)2016
What Is a Snack, Why Do We Snack, and How Can We Choose Better Snacks? A Review of the Definitions of Snacking, Motivations to Snack, Contributions to Dietary Intake, and Recommendations for Improvement.
Review in Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.), 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 119 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
119 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Impact of Meal Frequency on Anthropometric Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2020Pooled it
- FREQUENCY OF MEALS CONSUMED BY BRAZILIAN ADOLESCENTS AND ASSOCIATED HABITS: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW.Revista paulista de pediatria : orgao oficial da Sociedade de Pediatria de Sao Paulo · 2020Pooled it
- Relative Effects of Time-Restricted Eating, Energy-Restricted Eating, and Unrestricted Eating on Eating Patterns and Dietary Intake: Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · 2026Trial
- The Influence of Pre-Exercise Snacking on Glycemic Control, Physical Activity, Sleep, and Subjective Mood and Hunger During a 30-h Fast: A Randomized Crossover Study.European journal of sport science · 2025Trial
- Impact of breakfast consumption timingThe British journal of nutrition · 2025Trial
- Sugar Composition of Thai Desserts and Their Impact on the Gut Microbiome in Healthy Volunteers: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Nutrients · 2024Trial
- Snack quality and snack timing are associated with cardiometabolic blood markers: the ZOE PREDICT study.European journal of nutrition · 2024Trial
- Development and validation of an online tool to assess perceived portion size norms of discretionary foods.European journal of clinical nutrition · 2023Trial
- Trial
- The promotion of healthy breakfast and snacks based on the social marketing model: a mixed-methods study.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2021Trial
- Understanding the influence of physical resources and social supports on primary food providers' snack food provision: a discrete choice experiment.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2020Trial
- Eating Occasions, Obesity and Related Behaviors in Working Adults: Does it Matter When You Snack?Nutrients · 2019Trial
- Trial
- Effect of the Replacement of Corn (Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Snacking Behaviors in Relation to Stress and Physical Activity Using Automated Dietary Assessment: Observational Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Observational
- Examining the influences of media on food practices among adolescents in Salem district of Tamil Nadu: a cross-sectional study.BMC nutrition · 2026Article
- National Food Consumption Survey (NIPNOD 2018-2023): Results of Dietary Habits and Diet Quality Among Adolescents in Croatia.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Exploring Consumers' Situational Snacking Behaviors Using a Mobile App: Longitudinal Cohort Study (FOODLOOP) Among Millennials in the Netherlands.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2026Article
- Adolescents' unhealthy snacking behaviour during the school journey and the association with transport modes and food outlets along the school route.Perspectives in public health · 2026Review
- Snack preferences among school-aged children: evidence from discrete choice experiments.BMC public health · 2026Article
59 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Around the world, adults consume energy outside of traditional meals such as breakfast, lunch, and dinner. However, because there is no consistent definition of a "snack," it is unclear whether those extra eating occasions represent additional meals or snacks. The manner in which an eating occasion is labeled (e.g., as a meal or a snack) may influence other food choices an individual makes on the same day and satiety after consumption. Therefore, a clear distinction between "meals" and "snacks" is important. This review aims to assess the definition of extra eating occasions, to understand why eating is initiated at these occasions, and to determine what food choices are common at these eating occasions in order to identify areas for dietary intervention and improvement. Part I of this review discusses how snacking is defined and the social, environmental, and individual influences on the desire to snack and choice of snack. The section concludes with a brief discussion of the associations of snacking with cardiometabolic health markers, especially lipid profiles and weight. Part II addresses popular snack choices, overall snacking frequencies, and the demographic characteristics of frequent snackers in several different countries. This review concludes with a recommendation for nutrition policymakers to encourage specific health-promoting snacks that address nutrient insufficiencies and excesses.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.