Snack Attack!

Yes, it’s true, even we LoneStart guys have snack attacks. And, we’re not alone. Snacking can officially be considered our fourth meal (more for some of us) of the day. In fact, 21 percent of American meals are “snacks.” Research shows that virtually every household in the U.S. purchases some form of snack food during a visit to the grocery store. We thought you might like to know a little more about how and on what we tend to snack. And then, maybe we can all be a little more thoughtful about those snack choices when the snack attack hits us.

• The NPD Group’s “Snacking in America” report says number one on the snack lists are “Salty Snacks,” with a 98 percent household penetration. These include chips, pretzels and cheese snacks.
• Next come “Cookies and Chocolate Candy,” with a 95 percent household penetration.
• Evening snacking is still most common, but morning snacking is making strong gains. In fact, snack foods replace more breakfast meals than any other meal.
• While most snack-oriented convenience foods are eaten between meals, they are increasingly finding their way into meals as accompaniments—or replacements.
• NPD Group also reports that most snacks are purchased more than a day ahead—just one in ten are bought within 30 minutes of consumption.

So, while we snack our way through the day, we might want to keep in mind what “Mom” used to say about “not spoiling our appetites.” We might also keep in mind that a day of snacking adds up to a lot of empty calories.

It pains us to end on this note, but it takes the length of a football field to walk off the calories in one single M&M.