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A snack or a meal? The grab-and-go trend is growing

Some reach for chips. Others grab a yogurt. Still others enjoy chocolate. No matter the treat, one thing’s for certain — we love nibbling so much it’s replacing some of our meals. A survey of global snack habits by the Nielsen organization shows nearly half of respondents admit snacking instead of eating meals.“We do have a blurring of the lines of what is a snack and what is a meal,” s
Image: Chocolate bars
Chocolate is a favorite snack but not the best replacement for heatlhy eating.Jim Bourg / Today

Some reach for chips. Others grab a yogurt. Still others enjoy chocolate. No matter the treat, one thing’s for certain — we love nibbling so much it’s replacing some of our meals.

A survey of global snack habits by the Nielsen organization shows nearly half of respondents admit snacking instead of eating meals.

“We do have a blurring of the lines of what is a snack and what is a meal,” says James Russo, senior vice president of global consumer insights at Nielsen.

According to the “Nielsen Global Survey Snacking,” consumers worldwide spent $374 billion on snack foods in the 2013-14 fiscal year, 2 percent increase. Nielsen polled 30,000 people in 60 countries about their snacking habits in February and March to understand when and why we nosh between meals.

Image: Chocolate bars
Chocolate is a favorite snack but not the best replacement for heatlhy eating.Jim Bourg / Today

The vast majority of respondents — 91 percent — admitted snacking once a day. And 21 percent admitted loving it so much they nibbled on treats throughout the day.

The study revealed people are frequently replacing snacks with meals. Globally, 45 percent of people admit to snacking instead of eating a meal — 52 percent of those snack for breakfast, 43 percent snack for lunch, and 40 percent snack for dinner.

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Leslie Bonci, director of sports nutrition at UPMC Center for Sports Medicine in Pittsburgh, says she’s not surprised to hear more people are swapping snacks for meals. But she warns that snacks, even healthy ones, don't always cause people to eat less or better.

“The grab-and-go mindset doesn’t always lead to satiety,” she says.

Many people reach for a snack too many times a day as they strive to feel full. Also, too often people choose carbs over proteins, she says, meaning they’re not getting the proper nutrients.

"We’d love to see people snacking on celery and carrots [but] that’s not going to happen."

The survey indicates that most people use savory snacks as a replacement for meals. People in the United States and Middle East are enjoying more meat snacks, with dried meat and jerky sales surging 15 percent and 25 percent, respectively. In Europe, sales of dips, including salsa and hummus, rose 6.8 percent, while in Latin America crackers, rice cakes and pita chips sales spiked 21 percent. People in Asia-Pacific countries indulged in dairy products with sales of yogurt, cheese and pudding increasing 6.4 percent.

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Why and how people snack differ by gender. Men snack because they’re hungry or looking for enjoyment while women snack as an indulgence or because they’re bored, according to the study. Men reach for a snack during work whereas women grab a treat while using their smartphones, laptops or tablets. And don’t forget that other screen time: 78 percent of all respondents enjoyed snacks while camped in front of the TV.

Russo and Bonci agree snacking is here to stay.

“Honestly, we’d love to see people snacking on celery and carrots [but] that’s not going to happen,” Bonci says. “The best thing we can do is look at what’s out there and how to make it better.”