Snacking cessation: It’s time to challenge this eating behaviour

Our habits have changed over the generations. In particular, our eating behaviours continue to adapt and are intrinsically linked with changing social norms and myriad other influences leading us to consume more. In light of the obesity epidemic that threatens to be our greatest health challenge, the race is on to find new ways to modify or alter our food choices to those considered more “healthful”. Somewhere along the way snacking has become an acceptable eating pattern. We are uncomfortable foregoing these readily available and hedonistic food rewards. It may be time to change more than our food choice and question the need to snack at all.

How alcohol consumption influences obesity in middle-aged men: A systematic review

Total alcohol intake may influence overweight and obesity in some (particularly heavy) drinkers, but the magnitude of weight gain appears clinically marginal. Robust evidence to support that reducing alcohol consumption may address the obesity epidemic is lacking and warrants further research. Study findings nonetheless favour current practice, encouraging clinicians to recognise and address drinking behaviours as one of many lifestyle factors pertinent to individual weight management.

Doctors have a limited role in managing obesity

Obesity management is one of the greatest challenges in medicine. While the obesity epidemic continues to grow, there is increasing pressure on doctors to do more to curb these trends. National bodies offer guidelines and action plans; however, these miss the mark within the constraints of modern practice. While urgent change is needed to combat the health challenges that global obesity raises, medical practice is generally ill-equipped to make an effective change for patients. Significant innovation is needed to be able to deliver strategies that will work in a healthcare context.

Is snacking the new smoking?

The way we eat is changing. Incrementally, between-meal snacking has increased over time, and our busy, on-the-run lifestyles and changing social norms fuel the consumption of convenience foods and calorie-dense snacks. The societal normalising of snacking behaviour has myriad influences, but the marketing narrative that snacking is “good for you” needs to be challenged. Cigarette promotion of yesteryear seems unconscionable today, but the way snack foods are now pitched to the public has some eerie parallels. The pervasiveness of aggressive targeted marketing, celebrity endorsement, social normalisation narrative, and dismissal of health consequences should give us pause for thought.