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Cited by 258Nutrition, Health and Food BehaviorObesity, Physical Activity, DietNutritional Studies and Diet

Meals and snacking, diet quality and energy balance

Bellisle, France·2014·Physiology & Behavior
DOI 10.1016/j.physbeh.2014.03.010
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Abstract

The present obesity "epidemic" has been attributed to a growing trend for snacking. Snacking may contribute to excess energy intake and weight gain through different ways, for example: context/environment of eating, frequency of consumption and quality of food choices. The present article reviews data and hypotheses about the role of snacks in diet quality and body weight control. One obvious difficulty in this field is the diversity of definitions and approaches used in cross-sectional, longitudinal, and intervention studies. A brief paragraph reviews the prevalence of snacking in various countries and its recent evolution. The literature addressing the contribution of snacks to daily energy and nutrient intake presents two contrasting pictures. In many reports, snacking appears to facilitate the adjustment of energy intake to needs, and to contribute carbohydrates, rather than fats, to the diet, in addition to valuable micronutrients. Such results are usually reported in healthy, normal-weight children and adults. By contrast, snacking often appears to contribute much energy but little nutrition in the diet of other consumers, particularly obese children and adults. In addition to selecting energy-dense foods, eating in the absence of hunger in response to external non-physiological cues, in an irregular fashion, in contexts (e.g. while watching television) that do not favor attention to the act of eating, might be crucial factors determining the nutritional effects of snacking. While efforts should be continued to harmonize definitions and minimize the influence of under-reporting, interventions aimed at decreasing detrimental snacking should address both food-related aspects and behavioral components.

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  • To date there has been no comprehensive review of studies investigating associations between meal patterns and diet quality.

    “Moreover, to date there has been no comprehensive review of studies investigating associations between meal patterns and diet quality; previous reviews have focused on dietary contributions in relation to eating frequency or snacking( 8 , 9 ).”

    From Understanding meal patterns: definitions, methodology and impact on nutrient intake and diet quality (2015) · cites this paper as [9]

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Authors
Bellisle, F.
Affiliations
Université Laval (CA)
Corresponding author
Bellisle, France
ORCID
Bellisle, France
Venue
Physiology & Behavior
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2014-07
Volume
134
Pages
38-43
ISSN
0031-9384 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.physbeh.2014.03.010
OpenAlex
W1975451840
Cited by
258
References
16
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 35 · 2020: 36 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 1 · 2012: 1
FWCI
2.25
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Physiology & Behavior (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
Keywords
snacking, meals, diet quality, energy balance, obesity, energy intake, weight management, energy-dense foods, eating in the absence of hunger, eating context, snack frequency, nutrient intake, children, underreporting, eating behavior intervention
MeSH terms
Animals, Energy Intake, Diet, Energy Metabolism, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Obesity, Overweight, Meals, Snacks

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