Yearlong Tracking Finds Many Dutch Millennials Snack on Nutritious Foods

Snacking among Dutch millennials was often associated with foods such as fruit, bread, yogurt and cucumber—not only with highly processed treats—according to doctoral research reported by Medical Xpress from Wageningen University.

Mariëlle de Vaal tracked the dietary patterns of 264 Dutch millennials for a year using a mobile app. Participants logged what they ate and drank and classified each occasion, using labels such as breakfast, lunch, “in-between” or meal replacement. On average, they recorded four to five between-meal eating or drinking occasions per day.

The source reports that 64% of the products consumed during these occasions fell within the Dutch Wheel of Five guidelines. Examples included fruit, cucumber, bread, yogurt and black coffee. In that sense, some between-meal choices contributed foods and drinks considered compatible with a healthy diet under those guidelines.

The research also included in-depth interviews, which indicated that the same item could be understood differently depending on where and why it was consumed. A cucumber eaten at work to manage hunger before lunch might be described as an “in-between,” while the same food eaten during a social evening could be labeled a snack. Black coffee could function as a practical option during the workday or represent an indulgence in a social setting.

De Vaal’s findings suggest that snacking behavior involves more than the nutritional profile of a food. Participants described eating and drinking outside main meals for reasons including hunger, convenience, energy, relaxation, health, habit and social interaction. Those motives could shift according to the environment, such as an office, home or social setting.

The pattern also reflects what De Vaal called “snackification”: a blurring of the conventional boundary between meals and snacks. Several smaller eating occasions may replace a traditional meal, while foods commonly associated with meals, such as sandwiches, may be eaten between them.

Based on the findings, De Vaal argued that dietary guidance focused solely on avoiding snacks may overlook the circumstances surrounding eating. The source gives the example of tailoring attention to a recurring sweet treat and its context rather than treating all snacking as a single behavior.

The research does not establish that frequent snacking is inherently beneficial or that every snack supports a healthy diet. Instead, it describes the variety of foods, motives and situations involved in the eating patterns of this group, challenging the idea that “snack” automatically means an unhealthy choice.