When is a Snack? (And Answers to Other Questions You Were Afraid to Ask)

In Fall 2013, I taught an undergraduate Food and Culture course for the first time. In conjunction with a class at another university, students conceived of a 15-minute standardized oral interview on snacks and, following certification for human subject research and IRB permission, collected data from over 200 adults. Previous research on snacks focuses under the topic of obesity. In this paper I summarize snack definitions, as well as compare snacking preferences by gender and age. Although my analysis of the data collected is just beginning, I can say that the majority of people interviewed choose snacks for taste, followed by access/convenience, and thus not surprisingly most of their favorite snacks are processed rather than unprocessed foods.