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The rising prevalence of obesity among Indian adolescents has underscored the need to develop effective strategies to reduce this epidemic. The purpose of this paper is to assess the patterns of snacking, meal consumption and fast food consumption among adolescents in private schools in Kolkata, India.

A cross-sectional, paper-based, self-administered dietary and lifestyle survey was completed by 1,026 year-nine students aged 14–16 years. Cross-tabulation analyses were performed to compare the frequencies of various dietary behaviours across gender.

The two most common episodes for snacking among respondents were while watching television (57.9 per cent) and while interacting with peers (54.1 per cent). In contrast, snacking throughout the day (8.7 per cent) and in the middle of the night (7.8 per cent) were minimally practiced by the adolescents. The most regularly consumed meal was lunch (94.6 per cent), whereas the most frequently missed meal was breakfast (14.0 per cent). Fast food was most frequently consumed as snacks (26.8 per cent) but least frequently consumed for lunch (9.2 per cent). Overall, boys exhibited more unhealthy dietary behaviours than girls.

These findings highlight the need to develop nutrition education programmes for nutritionally vulnerable adolescents which communicate the importance of regular meal consumption, reduced intake of fast food and less snacking on energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods.

This is the first cross-sectional survey to investigate patterns of snacking, meal consumption and fast food consumption amongst urban Indian adolescents.

Adolescence is a period in which autonomy grows and where children develop into independent and active consumers and a period in which their food choices are also becoming more autonomous. Snacking is known to increase during the period of adolescence and the snack choice of adolescents is often unhealthy. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to know when adolescents perceive a snack as healthy. As healthiness perception could be linked to the perception of naturalness and sustainability of a snack, these are interesting product characteristics to study as well.

Semi-structured interviews with 20 adolescents were conducted to characterize their perception of healthiness, naturalness and sustainability. Chocolate snack bars were used as a stimulus product.

All participants mentioned consuming snacks because they like them. Healthiness was seen as important but was not always a priority in adolescents' snack choices. Naturalness and sustainability were concepts which the adolescents were not aware of or did not perceive as important during snack choice. The adolescents mentioned experiencing natural products to be healthier compared to not natural products. The consequences of the discerned dimensions time, impact and effect of choices were rather limited for this target group.

Understanding the healthiness, naturalness and sustainability perception of chocolate snack bars by adolescents may help to better understand drivers for adolescents' snack choices.

Vending machines (VMs) provide quick access for snack foods and beverages for students during their study days. These vended foods have been reported to affect the student's nutritional status and contributing to obesity by increasing the caloric intake. This study aimed to evaluate the nutritional value of snacks and beverages provided by VM at the university campuses.

A cross-sectional observational study in one large urban university with four campuses was conducted. In total, 55 VMs were found distributed over 50 buildings of the four university campuses. Of the vending slots surveyed, only 57 snacks and beverage food items were found repeated. These items were vended and analyzed using nutrient databases, and their nutritional quality was assessed using nutrient adequacy ratio and nutritional quality score.

Most vended snacks were salty (77%) and sweet (23%). Neither snacks nor beverages were nutrient-dense, and the majority (65%) of snacks and beverages were calorie-dense, with high contents of sugar, sodium and saturated fat; while they were low in vitamins C and A, calcium, iron, sodium, protein and dietary fibers. None of the vended beverages met the low calorie, low sugars and high-fiber criteria.

One limitation of the current work is represented in the fact that VM snacks and beverages are not fixed throughout the year days, and exposed to continuous changes, depending on the customers' attitudes and economic and financial considerations related to the operating contractor company and the customer students. Thus, a continuous, long-term evaluation is suggested to be conducted for a more representative and reflective evaluation of the nutritional quality of vended snacks and beverages.

Poor nutritional quality has been found for vended foods. Healthier food options should be provided to improve students' dietary intake.

Attention has to be directed toward the nutritional quality of VM foods, and how to provide adolescents and young adults with healthy options.

This is the first study conducted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Gulf Cooperation Council countries (GCC) assessing the nutritional value of vending machine foods in university settings.

The purpose of this paper is to explore snacking behavior and perspectives on healthy and unhealthy food choices among adolescents in Mainland China.

Four focus-group interviews were conducted. Altogether 24 participants were recruited in Changsha, a second-tier city in China, through a convenience sampling process. They were asked to report their snacking behaviors, identify whether certain snacks are healthy or unhealthy and elaborate on factors affecting food choices.

Snacking was prevalent among the participants. The most frequently consumed snacks included fruit, milk and instant noodles. Participants’ evaluations for the healthiness of foods were based on the actual nutritional values of those foods, the effects on growth and body weight and word-of-mouth. Choice of snack was driven mainly by taste, image, convenience and health consciousness.

The finding was based on a non-probability sample. The paper also did not explore the contexts where snacks were consumed.

Parents can make healthy snacks more accessible at home and at schools. Educators can teach adolescents how to read food labels. Schools can increase the availability of healthy snacks on campus. Social marketers can promote healthy snacks by associating them with fun and high taste.

This is the first paper on snacking behaviors among adolescents conducted in a second-tier city in China using focus-group methodology.

The aim of this paper is to examine consumers' perceptions and expectations towards healthy snacks, with particular emphasis on the cereal snack market, and to explore new areas of opportunities for healthy snacks by identifying consumer needs and wants.

Six focus group discussions were conducted to generate attitudinal data across three different adult consumer groups.

Results revealed that consumers expected a healthy snack to contain low levels of calories, fat, salt and sugar, and to contain high levels of whole‐grain, oats, bran, nuts, seeds, pulses and fruit, e.g. blueberries, cranberries, gogi berries. Additionally, healthy snacks were required to be free from any artificial colours, sweeteners and flavours. Major factors encouraging healthy snack consumption included reduced risk of weight gain, diabetes, heart burn and bloating. Conversely, perceived taste, portion size, the lack of available convenient nutritional snacks, accessibility and confusion over the credibility of the “healthy product” tag were the main factors preventing healthy consumption in the adult population examined. Consumers expressed a desire for a wider choice of filling snacks with specific health benefits for a variety of usage occasions, particularly those with associated health claims such as “high fibre”, “omega 3 for mental health” and “reduces cholesterol”.

The study sample size was not extensive and was limited to a small geographical spread of Dublin and Meath on the East coast of Ireland. A more representative sample of the entire Irish population could be the basis for further research.

These findings increase the understanding of current expectations of the Irish adult consumer regarding healthy snack foods. They also highlight the potential new product development opportunities for snack food manufacturers to explore.

The present paper focuses specifically on healthy snacks and contributes to a limited amount of existing literature by providing consumer research for the development of new healthy snack foods.

The pleasantness of a food declines with consumption and this phenomenon has been demonstrated reliably in the short‐term. To investigate long‐term effects of repeat consumption on pleasantness, preference and intake, 21 volunteers consumed either a salty snack (french fries) or sweet snack (chocolate) every day for 15 days. Four dependent variables were measured: pleasantness ratings, ranked preference, frequency of consumption and ad libitum intake. Daily pleasantness of taste ratings decreased across the exposure period only for chocolate. Ranked preference for chocolate declined during the sweet snack condition and increased during the salty snack condition. Preference for french fries remained the same during the salty snack condition and increased during the sweet snack condition. Frequency of consuming chocolate outside the laboratory decreased during the sweet snack exposure. No such pattern was found for french fries in either condition. Ad libitum intake in the laboratory remained the same over time for both foods. Short‐term sensory‐specific satiety within the eating episode was consistent over time. Therefore, long‐term monotony effects were found only for pleasantness, preference and frequency of eating chocolate following repeated exposure, but these changes had no impact on ad libitum intake. Systematic, repeat exposure to a single food provides a useful paradigm for investigating the development of monotony.

The purpose of this paper is to indicate the need for and create an insightful understanding of the current factors contributing to consumer’s obesity levels due to their snack choices.

This paper reports on previous literature using publications from the Emerald Insight Journals, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect and Web of Science electronic database from 1999 to 2018 that validate and support existing literature. The retrieved literature is organised and classified into specific constructs.

Research into consumers’ choice of snacks from an environmental, cultural and health perspective is still underrepresented in the international scientific literature. More research is required on the specific effects of specific levels of the stated factors contributing to obesity. Health and cross-cultural studies are needed for a more comprehensive understanding of the relation between snack choices and factors contributing to obesity that will help to implement more efficient health measures.

This paper is of value to academics studying consumers’ snacking behaviour and public health practitioners evaluating qualitative and quantitative methods to address the obesity epidemic.

Snacking contributes to one-quarter of children’s total daily energy intake in the USA, with many snack foods being nutrient-poor and energy-dense. Snacking and sugary beverage consumption have been identified as potential contributors to childhood overweight and obesity and may play a particularly important role among children from socioeconomically disadvantaged households that generally display higher rates of obesity. This exploratory study investigated associations between consumption of snack foods, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) and overweight and obesity in children from low-income households.

Data from households that participated in a multi-state cost-offset (CO-CSA) community supported agriculture intervention in 2016 and 2017 (n = 305) were analyzed. Fixed effect regression models were used to estimate associations between child monthly consumption of salty snack foods; sweet snack foods and SSBs; and child weight status, accounting for demographic characteristics.

No associations were found between snack or SSB consumption and child overweight. However, household income was significantly, negatively related to all three consumption variables (Salty snacks: ß = −0.09, SE = 0.04, p = 0.02; Sweet snacks: ß= −0.10, SE = 0.04, p = 0.01; SSB: ß= −0.21, SE = 0.05, p = 0.0001). The results suggest that household income may play an important role in children’s snacking and SSB behaviors among more disadvantaged households.

Factors beyond snack food and SSB consumption should be explored to better understand childhood overweight and obesity, and to inform future obesity interventions.

Socioeconomic disparities in childhood obesity are an ongoing policy-relevant issue within the USA and internationally. This study provides new information about child snacking behaviors in a unique, low-income population and contributes to the evidence base regarding the role household context in shaping child consumption behaviors.

This study aims to examine gender differences in consumption frequency, perception of health value and enjoyment associated with two categories of convenience foods – snacks, and ready meals and side dishes – among university students in French and English Canada, the United States and France.

In total, 376 women and 324 men replied to a self‐administered questionnaire that included general questions on attitude toward health and specific questions on consumption frequency, perception of health value and enjoyment attributed to products in both categories.

Variance analysis brought to light differences in gender within each regional group. Overall, perceived health value of ready meals and side dishes, while slightly negative, is less negative than for snacks, whereas greater enjoyment is attributed to snacks. For all regions combined, men attribute a less negative health value to snacks and ready meals and side dishes than women do, and derive more enjoyment than women from ready meals and side dishes, whereas women enjoy snacks more than men do.

This study clarifies the specific food habits of young people aged 18 to 25 regarding convenience foods, a rapidly growing category that could aggravate the trend toward obesity.

The aim of this article is to examine the perception of various snack alternatives and the relevant negative and positive associations they may have with key adult groups, including any potential barriers and drivers relating to the uptake of healthier snack options.

The approach takes the form of a qualitative focus group study involving a series of key adult consumer groups, including those deemed more likely and those less likely to take up healthy snack options.

Despite increased health factor awareness across key adult snacking groups, there remains a perception of food “snacks” as a worthwhile, if basically unhealthy, “treat” within their overall food consumption. Many adults did show some concerns about specific diet and health‐related aspects of many snack products and would like to be tempted by healthier versions. Amongst the drivers for healthy snack uptake, local source attributes were generally rated highly by all; these and other “natural” and “healthy” snack claims, including fairtrade and organic labels, were positively received provided that the key, hedonic “treat” experience attributes could still be delivered. When considering the provision of snacks for children, the customers' choice processes appeared to be much more health‐based, showing apparent “nest” snack choice behaviours – or stronger “nesting” behaviours in mothers of young children.

The study was restricted to a relatively small sample in an area limited to the county of Dorset in the South of England, potentially more focused on countryside local foods.

Areas of marketing focus are suggested that could promote healthy snack choices in adult consumers.

The paper examines snacks within the desired snack experience dimensions of key consumer groups and suggests key attributes, associations and thinking‐processes behind healthy snack choice behaviours.