Meal And Snack Patterns

My granddaughter is a “grazer”. She likes to eat several little meals or snacks during the day as opposed to three square. Thankfully, what she eats is usually seeds and nuts, fruits, low fat dairy, raw veggies and whole grain carbs. The idea of snacking as the new way of eating has continued to gain approval from diet experts and consumers alike. In fact, a recent survey found that nearly 90% of Americans like to engage in what they call “modern snacking”, where eating rules and structure are very flexible. The USDA is quite aware of the increasing trend of the American public to engage in modern snacking, so much so that the agency has provided health and nutritional information for meal and snack patterns on their MyPlate.gov website. A big plus to eating frequently is that it may help to actually control appetite, which could help to control weight. Of course, when eating frequently one needs to remember to control portion sizes and eat a wide variety of healthy low calorie foods. The experts say that the key to mini-meals is to pack each one with enough nutritional punch and fiber to sustain yourself without adding lots of extra calories and fats.