Snacking habits impact health: Study

Do you know that what you eat at 7pm may just impact your dinner habits and in turn your health?

Everybody enjoys a good snack in the evening. But not all snacks are healthy. Most snacks that we eat during the evening are usually unhealthy as they are mostly deep-fried food items. Not only are they unhealthy but at most time they also kill the appetite for dinner.

A new pan-India study of snacking by research agency AC Nielsen for Knorr Soups reveals that the highest intake of unhealthy foods takes place in the pre-dinner period. The 4 pm to 7 pm slot is what you need to watch out for.

The study surveyed 1,000 respondents from Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata. It covered homemakers, working women (mothers) in the age group of 26-40, belonging to middle and upper income households.

With dinner time shifting from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm, a wide variety of unhealthy snacks such as samosa, pakodas, noodles, burger and chaat are consumed in the evening which are high in calories.

The study points out that the top five pre dinner snacks among the kids are biscuits, fruits, noodles, pastas, chips and sandwiches.

Mothers in general are worried with unhealthy snacks eaten in the evening that kills the appetite for dinner, and kid?s nutrition; also they are concerned about their kids eating junk food and being fond of unhealthy snacks.

The healthy snack options that mothers can feed their kids are sandwiches, fruits, vegetable salads, sprouts, uttapa, poha, upma, idli, juices, shakes, biscuits, and soup.

The study reveals that the consumption of healthy snacks such as soup has increased over the last one year, with soup being consumed three times a week.

The study also reveals that four of every ten Indians have both packaged soups & freshly prepared soups.

Surprisingly, there has been a significant change in Mumbai?s snacking habits. From being at number 10 last year, soup has become the number 1 choice for a pre dinner snack. In Delhi too, the preference for soup has gone up significantly from last year with its rank going up at number 2.

Renowned diet and nutrition consultant Sheela Krishnaswamy says, ?Soups not only give nutrition but also the much-needed hydration for our bodies. Clear soups which have no fat or sodium can be consumed in place of a glass of water, in winter.?

Quick Bites

? In India, mothers consider unhealthy snacks like pakoda, samosa, biscuits and chips although they would want to switch to other healthy and tasty options

? Fruits are considered to be the most healthy and tasty snack option

? After vegetables salads & sprouts mothers consider soup to have 100% vegetables

? In India, mothers believe that an ideal snack should be nutritious, easy to digest, ideal for kids, low cal, healthy and tasty

? Mothers in Mumbai are most concerned about their kids eating a lot of junk food as compared to other cities

? More than 70% mothers in Delhi & Chennai think that soup is the most delicious way of feeding vegetables.