Pranav is a young mobile executive. Work brought him to a new city and his hurried life made him dependent on cafeteria food and ready-to- eat stuff. Waking up in the morning with tea and biscuits, he chomps on a cereal bar en route to work and eats lunch in the cafeteria. By tea time he is ravenous and ready to wolf down a few samosas as he clocks in late hours at work. Dinner is mostly at a restaurant near home.
Rita and her husband get invited to parties frequently. While the real food takes a long time to be served they are forced to consume a variety of short eats, from chips to fried goodies, since they don’t want to be seen as party poopers.
Even for someone as young as Amala, a school student with a busy working mom, snacks form a big part of the diet.
Is snacking becoming a noticeable trend? Says Dr Vijay Viswanathan, Head and Chief Diabetologist MV Hospital for Diabetes, Royapuram, Chennai, “Many children do not have a balanced diet during school hours as a result of which they come back home hungry and snack on high-calorie food. A study covering urban schoolchildren in Chennai showed that about 24 per cent of students were overweight and it was found that snacking led to obesity. The other group who snack a lot is the busy office-goers who do not take a proper breakfast and lunch and snack in between on high calorie foods.”
Dr Bhuvaneshwari Shankar, Group Chief Dietician, Apollo Hospitals Group, says more people are snacking. “Because they skip meals or don’t give priority to meal timings and end up picking up whatever is available to satisfy their hunger.”
Weight watchers have been warned of eating between meals as snacking is likely to end up in over-consumption. Dr Patricia Trueman Head of Diet Department M V Hospital for Diabetes Chennai says, “Often people who snack prior to a meal do not reduce the size of their subsequent meal and exceed the recommended calorie intake.”
Mothers too worry that snacking takes the edge off their children’s appetite. “If you must snack, do so on a bowl of fruits or low calorie items such as puffed rice,” suggests Dr Vijay Viswanathan.
The trick is to stock up on healthy snacks; make sure one makes the right choices. There is plenty to choose from—fruits, nuts (almonds, walnuts, soy nuts), salads, soups, pulses (roasted or boiled and seasoned), protein shakes made with non-fat or low-fat milk, protein snack bars, non fat yogurt, raw veggies and hummus, sliced hard boiled egg on tomato slices, tuna on whole grain crackers, smoked salmon around cucumber sticks etc. One should avoid cheese pizzas, burgers,bajjis, bondas, samosas, vadas, puffs, sweets, chips, cakes and sodas. It would be wise to avoid snacks high in sugar, salt, fat and calories and avoid nibbling when bored or stressed.
So what is the last word on the subject? Dr Trueman says, “Eating three meals and two or three snacks per day might be better than eating fewer larger meals as people won’t get hungry between meals and are less likely to gorge at meal times. This also spreads the absorption of nutrients more evenly throughout the day, is good for blood sugar control and helps active people with high energy requirements meet their calorie needs.” Dr Bhuvaneshwari Shankar says eating fried snacks regularly is not a good habit. It may be fine for children who are active and play sport but is habit-forming. Diabetic people need to have healthy snacks between meals at specified times so that there is no drop in their blood sugar.