Snacks constitute almost a quarter of a day’s calories in U.S. adults and account for about one-third of daily added sugar, a new study suggests.
Researchers analyzing data from surveys of over 20,000 people found that Americans averaged about 400 to 500 calories in snacks a day—often more than what they consumed at breakfast—that offered little nutritional value.
Though dietitians are very aware of Americans’ propensity to snack, “the magnitude of the impact isn’t realized until you actually look at it,” said senior study author Christopher Taylor, professor of medical dietetics in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at The Ohio State University.
Researchers will be shocked when they find out half of Americans eat 1000 cal or more in snacks each day. Btw: try the new candy cane triple sugar frappuccino at Starbucks™.
Starbucks really should be louder about their cal counts…
They’re dumping literal sugar syrup into most of their “specialty” drinks, adding several hundred calories. I would love to see the calorie counts right there on the menu in-store and online in large, bold text.
The again, studies have shown time and again that people are awful at understanding how many calories are in their meal, so I’d wager there would still be plenty of people still thinking “oh, only 480 calories. Good thing I’m having a salad for lunch!”