Snacking habits of senior Americans

This study evaluated snacking behavior among 335 non-institutionalized Americans aged 55 years and older. Respondents were randomly selected from the fifty states excluding Hawaii and Alaska and questioned by trained telephone interviewers using the CATI system. The study found that the majority of seniors snacked at least once daily with only 2.1% reporting that they never snack. Morning is the least common and evening is the most common time for snacking. Almost all snacking occurs at home. When selecting snacks, taste outranks nutrition as selection criteria. Fruits were popular but were chosen less often than other snacks. Findings suggest that snacking should be targeted with specific nutrition education messages that address the influences of time of day, location, and qualities of foods upon the choices made when snacking.