An American friend and I were discussing (what we see as) the problem of overeating in the USA. It’s hard to miss really, although it’s definitely a problem in my country (UK), but certainly to a lesser degree. One of the contrasts we discovered was related to snacking…when we are young, we are constantly told ‘don’t eat between meals, you’ll ruin your appetite’…my American friend on the other hand tells me that snacking as a child is positively encouraged in the US. eg ‘come on in for milk and cookies kids’
Of course there are many other factors, but is this a real part of the problem or not?
Is this habit lost after childhood…i do seem to see lots of people munching away on doughnuts, popcorn and the like on their way home from work.
Oh, the title is from an advert (still running?) for Milky Way…the food you CAN eat between meals without ruining your appetite. So what’s the consensus?
Well, in the Philippines where of course there is less obesity (actually, i cant think of one relative there who is overweight), they DO in fact have a snack time, which is called meryenda (from merienda). It’s in the afternoon between lunch and dinner usually (and often Filipinos will eat throughout the day if they can afford it, at least with my relatives in the Philippines) . I think the obesity problem has partly to do with what people eat for snacks and how much (often snacks are sugary, and fat loaded).
The snack factor is a good point. I don’t think eating between meals is a problem per se, since you could just eat half what you normally eat, twice as often. Trouble is, that isn’t very common. As has been observed, snack foods are nasty gobs of everything bad for you, which is why I LOOOOOOVE THEM!!! But that is off the topic.
I’d say a good solution to snacking would be, don’t skimp at mealtime. Eat until you’re full. That way, you’ll be less tempted by the candy machine. Did I mention I LOOOOOVE CANDY?!! Sorry. Another good solution is leftovers. A little bit of reheated stew would be a much better choice to quiet the ETERNAL CANDY-EATING DEMON THAT LIVES IN MY STOMACH, since you’re less likely to keep eating and eating.
That’s another thing … there is no normal serving size for snack foods. I mean, at lunch normal serving size is a sandwich, or half a large sandwich, and soup/salad, and a beverage. What the heck is the natural serving size for Fritos? The whole damn bag?! A bowlful? So we don’t have signals when to stop eating, since we’re usually distracted by the non-meal nature of the snack, we just eat until we’re done watching TV, which never stops.
Anybody got any Hostess Cupcakes? Basically, I think snacktimes defeats a lot of our health-habits, like family-oriented meals, balanced diets, setting aside time to eat. I guess it just drives me crazy that people will put 2% milk in their coffee to save calories, and then inhale a bag of Extra-Kreemy Lardoes without even thinking about it.
Want some nonfat yogurt with your Funyuns?
Nothing I write about any person or group should be applied to a larger group.
- Boris Badenov
Sweet foods are a natural instinct. I believe the indefatigable Desmond Morris wrotethat,back when we all lived like nomads,sweet foods wouldn’t kill you;however,eatr a rotten food,and it tastes bitter! Wonder how they came up with coffee then?
I don’t think snacking is bad. In fact, it’s a regular part of my eating schedule. I don’t eat at regular mealtimes, just when I am hungry. The important thing is to eat healthy foods, and to stop when you are full. It’s also good to eat slowly, and to pay attention to your food (so that you recognize when you are full).
The bad habits that Americans fall into are
[ul]
[li]When we eat more sweets than real food[/li][li]When we eat because we are bored (rather than because we are hungry)[/li][li]When we eat less than we need in an attempt to diet (this only causes your body to go into starvation mode, and your metabolism drops, plus this is impossible to keep up)[/li][li]When we eat too much at meals (either because we starved ourselves all day or because we want to “finish everything on our plate”[/li][/ul]
The ever-growing portions in restaurants don’t help either. We have a need to eat everything, because we payed for it.
Note that I am not a nutritionist, but I am pretty healthy.
Cessandra
Why sex is better than religion: You can scream “Oh, God” during sex, but just trying saying “Oh, f***” in church!