Nutritional value of snacks appear to decline with age in kids

A new study has revealed that the nutritional value of snacks and meals differed by age and snacking quality appears to decline in kids.

According to the study by Brown University and the Weight Control and Diabetes Center at The Miriam Hospital, among the 92 school-age children aged 9 to 11 in the study, each snack raised their diet quality by 2.31 points, as measured on the Healthy Eating Index, 2005 developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The findings revealed that among the 84 teens in the study, aged 12 to 15, each snack dragged the quality score down by 2.73 points whereas each meal increased the quality score by 5.40 points

E. Whitney Evans said that in elementary school-age participants we found that overall eating frequency and snacks positively contributed to diet quality and in adolescents, snacks detract from overall diet quality while each additional meal increased diet quality.

The study was published in the journal Public Health Nutrition.