The Demonization of Snacks is Here

Years ago, when I was a writer for a major parenting magazine, an article by a colleague of mine made major waves. The gist of the article? It told us that differentiating between a snack and a treat is incredibly important. A snack is something like an apple or a piece of cheese. A cookie or a cupcake or a bowl of ice cream, on the other hand? Those are treats, and we need to make that very, very clear for even very young kids.

And then the pendulum swung, as it so often does. All of a sudden, I couldn’t log on to social media without feeling the finger wags from registered dietitians who told us we need to stop labeling food.

 “Don’t call it a treat!”

”Serve dessert with dinner!”

“If your child is hungry, let them eat! There’s nothing wrong with a snack right before dinner!”

…And now, we’re back. Or at least we seem to be: Over the past few weeks, I am seeing so much content about how snack culture is out of control. How we need to stop allowing our kids to nibble so much between meals. 

This feels like a story about parenting, and it sort of is. But it’s also…sort of not. Because this type of content is indicative of what’s happening in the wellness world — and on social media in general. The demonization of snacks? It’s here, and not just for kids. It feels like this exists at the intersection of parenting advice and diet culture’s current position. And like so much health and nutritional advice, it feels like the target is constantly moving. One day, w’ere told to focus on protein intake above all else. Next, fiber is the thing we’re encouraged to prioritize. And then someone tells us to try intermittent fasting…and someone else tells us it’ll wreck our metabolisms. It’s exhausting.

The demonization of snacks is very much a part of all this. Because it’s not just directed at parents. On social media, influencers frequently tell you “you don’t need a treat; you’re not a dog” or ask you if you want to “eat a snack or be a snack”. Meanwhile, not that long ago, we were told that eating frequent small meals or snacks was actually the ultimate wellness and weight maintenance hack. Now, snacking is being treated like some gluttonous thing we do, like the only snacks we can possibly eat are highly processed and horrible for our health…and like something that only happens due to boredom or lack of discipline, not because we may simply get hungry between meals. 

Listen, do I think we should be eating packaged snacks all day long (or allowing our kids to do so?) No. I don’t. But I also think we need to stop being so extreme about every single thing. Sometimes a kid needs a snack. Sometimes an adult does. Sometimes that snack is an apple, other times it’s a bag of chips. Either way, it’s a part of life, a part of our culture, and something that doesn’t need to be demonized on our feeds.