Kids prefer fruit than any other snack
The NPD Group finds that fruit is one of the most preferred snack foods among children in the U.S.
17/06/05 Kids eat fresh fruit more often than any other snack-oriented food, according to new NPD research. It is the top snack food consumed by boys and girls between ages 2 and 12. Everyday NPD's SnackTrack(R) collects snack food consumption habits for both kids and adults. NPD also tracks the situations when snack foods are consumed to give a complete picture of Americans' snacking habits.
"While chips, cookies and candy are among the most popular snack foods, it's surprising to see that the number one category of snacks consumed by children is fresh fruit," said Harry Balzer, vice president of The NPD Group. "As people age fruit drops down a little on the list, but it still remains one of the most popular snacks at any age. Later in life, fresh fruit will become the most popular again," said Balzer.
Snacking has always been a more important part of a child's diet than an adult's diet. Children under 18 years of age consume snack foods 23 percent more often than adults. The average child eats snack foods about 530 times per year compared to the average adult who only eats them about 430 times per year.
Chewing gum tops the list as the number one snack food among adults. The NPD Group's SnackTrack finds that gum is ubiquitous among men and women snackers. Age is a factor in the gum-chewing habits of Americans. It begins to show up as a popular snack among kids under 13, but doesn't rank as number one until the teenage years.
NPD finds that Chocolate candy is the second most popular snack food for adults under 55 years old.
