The Importance of Snacks

Snacks can be an important part of food planning, whether as a daily feature or the occasional pinch hitter. Well planned snacks can be convenient, fun, satisfying, nutritious, and can help make a busy day more conquerable. If you’re interested in how snacking can impact health, well, the the research is mixed^[1]. Like food choices at mealtimes, choosing snacks that work best means considering time, location, nutritional needs, preferences, all the same planning that goes into planning a mealtime. For instance, choosing an apple and yogurt may not be the best fit for a snack that is likely to be consumed while driving or a sandwich may not be appealing in the middle of a stressful afternoon full of back-to-back appointments.

My personal snack strategy includes a snack pouch: an always packed, frequently refilled, zipper pouch (this one happens to be from a random flea market) that I grab when I’m leaving the house. Inside are salty snacks, sweet snacks, bars, mints, sometimes little containers of nuts or dried fruit, all depending on where I shopped last, what was on sale, what is still left from that shopping trip, and what I expect to be doing while I’m out. More often than not, this pouch is not updated before I leave but rather after I get back. If I’m packing up because I’m planning to leave the house for a while I try to include updating my snack pouch but it’s main utility is in being ready when leaving the house to run errands, go to an appointment, or something else that could involve unexpected schedule changes. I don’t always need it, but it happens often enough that it has earned a place in my household food planning. I encourage you to think about what could be helpful in your personal snack strategy! Snacks for yourself as a caregiver can be crucial if you frequently find yourself focusing on others, on the day’s tasks, and what comes next — this can lead to missing meals due to scheduling, forgetting, or a disrupted eating schedule. While no level of food planning can prevent life from altering the plan, including options like snacks can help to smooth out the bumps. Some ideas to think about that may help you build your snack pouch (or box or bag or some other container!):

Is there someone else in my life who will inevitably end up also relying on this snack pouch? (This may influence quantity of snacks stored or type if that person has favorites)
What is a substantial, shelf-stable snack that can be packed and stay ready? (eg, RXBAR, Clif Bar, pre-mixed protein shake)
What is a small snack that can help when mealtime is soon but just not soon enough? (eg, fruit gummies, granola bar, fruit & nut bar, mini bag of pretzels, peanut butter pouch, cheese crackers)
Is there something I always want when my day spins out of control and is there a way I can fill that with a snack? (craving salty snack = chickpea snacks, veggie straws, small bag of chips, flavored nuts; crave a sweet snack = dried fruit, small bag of M&M’s, sweet flavored nuts, chocolate chip flavored fruit & nut bar, sugar free caramels)
Will I refresh this snack container often? (If your answer is yes, an insulated lunch box and cold pack can increase snack options greatly! Fruit such as apples or clementines, cheese, yogurt, caramel dip, and more all become options)

This takes some initial time investment and adding a habit of refreshing your snack pouch, thought the ongoing time investment can be fairly small. The benefit can be notable, especially for caregivers who frequently find themselves looking for food while out and about. Having snacks at hand can be a convenience, time savings, money savings, and can help ensure caregivers get the chance to eat during the day. If this sounds like doing too much, consider whether adding an on-the-go snack strategy is a fit for you — maybe it’s not! That’s completely ok. There are any number of reasons portable snacks may not be the right fit. In that case, could a snack bin help? Using these same ideas but applied to an at home setup may be helpful as well!

However your personal and household relationship to snacks looks now, this is meant to be encouraging to explore ways it can best support your schedule and lifestyle. Maybe you’re already doing this, maybe this isn’t the right fit for you, maybe your routine already includes a plan for busy days. If you have a working strategy, that’s wonderful! If you’re looking for some options to support yourself and your household when things get crazy, consider a snack strategy.

Citations:

Harvard School of Public Health. (February 2021). The Science of Snacking. The Nutrition Source. https://nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu/snacking/