Say no to snacks: Study

Neha Sharma | New Delhi

Watch out the next time you pick up a packet of potato chips or biscuits on your way home from work. While it might help your growling stomach for the moment, chances are that it will end up spoiling your dinner and even killing your appetite.

A study on snacking habits among women and children conducted recently by the research agency AC Nielsen shows that Delhiites consume the most non-healthy food during the pre-dinner period.

Covering women in the age group 28-40 and children between 5-12 years belonging to middle and upper income households, the survey found that the 5-7 pm slot sees 89 per cent women and 88 per cent children in Delhi consuming unhealthy snacks like pakodas, namkeens, chocolates and burgers.

It is evident that the fast-paced urban lifestyle is responsible for pre-dinner snacking. Extended working hours, long travelling time and the absence of healthy options in the office environment has given rise to a breed of executives, who "grab a bite" while they are working. Their options generally include easily available fast food like pizzas, noodles and pav bhaji.

Nutritionists say that long breaks between tea time and dinner are responsible for the phenomenon. Dr Karuna Chaturvedi of Apollo Hospital says that though it is difficult to avoid snacking between meals, people can make their diet healthy by eating fruit chaat, milkshakes, kathi rolls with nutritious stuffing like paneer, salads with a low-calorie dip and sprouts.

"A healthy diet helps one maintain an active lifestyle and protects the body against various diseases. There is a linkage between healthy diet and prevention of diseases related to the heart and blood pressure," she says.
"Delhiites have very unhealthy eating habits and they are more likely to eat such things during the pre-dinner period. Eating is a pleasurable activity and people fight stress and increasing competition by satiating their tastebuds. With food industrialisation there has been the emergence of high calorie, palatable food that is very unhealthy and its consumption can lead to diabetes and weight problems. People should compensate for it by moving towards healthier options like adding graded vegetables to clear soup or having whole wheat bread and low sugar biscuits," she adds.

Experts add that when children feel hungry between meals, mothers give them quick snacks like biscuits, fried foods and instant noodles that have no nutritional value and contribute to weight gain.
They say that these things are consumed during evening time as children are usually exhausted due to physical activity. It is necessary they become conscious otherwise, it can lead to low appetite for a healthy dinner and consequently health problems in the long run.

"Mothers often think they can make noodles nutritious by adding vegetables to them. However, noodles are full of empty calories due to the refined flour and are high in bad fat," says Niti Desai, a Mumbai-based nutritionist.
Says Preeti Gupta, a multinational executive and mother of a four-year-old son, "I have a backbreaking 9-5 schedule and it is tough to keep a tab on what the maid is feeding my son back home. My parents pamper him all the time and give him whatever he asks for. Though I personally cook for him, his obese condition proves that his diet is being supplemented with unhealthy food. The survey is an eye opener in terms of how these snacks can be substituted with healthy ones."