Fruits and vegetables as a healthier snack throughout the day among families with older children: Findings from a survey of parent–child dyads ☆ Teresa M. Smith a,d, ⁎, Courtney A. Pinard a,d , Carmen Byker Shanks b , Holly Wethington c , Heidi M. Blanck c , Amy L. Yaroch a,d a Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition, 8401 West Dodge Road, Suite 100, Omaha, NE 68114, USA b Montana State University, Department of Health and Human Development, 222 Romney Gym, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA c Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention & Health Promotion, CDC, 1600 Clifton Rd. Atlanta, GA 30333, USA d University of Nebraska Medical Center, Department of Health Promotion, Social & Behavioral Health, UNMC College of Public Health, 984365 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198-4365, USA abstract article info Article history: Received 18 July 2014 Received in revised form 17 December 2014 Accepted 28 January 2015 Available online 4 February 2015 Keywords: Snacking Older children Adolescents Fruits and vegetables ConsumerStyles Most U.S. youth fail to eat the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables (FV) however many consume too many calories as added sugars and solid fats, often as snacks. The aim of this study was to assess factors associated with serving FV as snacks and with meals using parent–child dyads. A cross-sectional sample of U.S. children aged 9 to 18, and their caregiver/parent (n = 1522) were part of a Consumer Panel of households for the 2008 YouthStyles mail survey. Chi-square test of independence and multivariable logistic regression were used to assess associations between serving patterns of FV as snacks with variations in serving patterns, and covariates including dietary habits. Most parents (72%) reported serving FV at meals and as snacks. Fruit was most frequently served as a snack during the day (52%) and vegetables were most frequently served as a snack during the day (22%) but rarely in the morning. Significant differences in child FV intake existed among FV as a snack serving patterns by parents. Compared to children whose parents served FV only at meals, children whose parents reported serving FV as snacks in addition to meals were significantly more likely to have consumed FV the day before (using a previous day screener), P b 0.05. Contributing to the growing collection of literature describing parent–child dyad dietary behaviors, these findings suggest promoting FV access and intake throughout the day, not only at meals, by including serving as snacks, may increase FV intake among older children and adolescents. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Older children and adolescents are consuming fruits and vegetables (FV) well below amounts recommended in the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, 2012; Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, 2010; Kimmons, Gillespie, Seymour, Serdula, & Blanck, 2009) yet are consuming foods high in added sugars and solid fats above recommended amounts (Reedy & Krebs-Smith, 2010), often as snacks (Slining & Popkin, 2013). The 2010 National Youth Physical Activity and Nutrition Study showed that 28.5% of high school students consumed fruit less than once daily and 33.2% con- sumed vegetables less than once daily (Kim, Grimm, Harris, Scanlon, & Demissie, 2011). Since the 1970s, fruit as a snack has decreased among children (aged 2–18), while snacks consisting of foods high in added sugars and solid fats have increased contributing to an intake of about 168 cal more per day from snacking (Piernas & Popkin, 2010). Key settings for promoting healthy snacking for older children include schools, food stores, and the home food environment (Borradaile et al., 2009; Story, Kaphingst, Robinson-O'Brien, & Glanz, 2008). The home food environment has been characterized by several factors, including availability of FV, accessibility of FV, and parental intake of FV, which are consistently and positively related to FV intake in children and adoles- cents (Bere & Klepp, 2004; Hearn et al., 1998; Jago, Baranowski, Baranowski, et al., 2007). There is scant information available however re- garding the relationship of serving FV as snacks and family FV intake habits. As the ubiquity of energy-dense snack foods among community retail venues (Farley, Baker, Futrell, & Rice, 2010) and vending machines in school settings (Kubik, Lytle, & Farbakhsh, 2011) has become a recent focus for intervention, focusing on serving FV as snacks by parents is one strategy to consider to improve diet quality among children and po- tentially reduce snacking on foods high in added sugars and solid fats. This study used 2008 Styles data to address two objectives. The first was to describe the provision of FV as snacks and to identify significant differences among serving patterns. The second was to examine the Eating Behaviors 17 (2015) 136–139 ☆ The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not neces- sarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ⁎ Corresponding author at: 8401 West Dodge Road, Suite 100, Omaha, NE 68114, USA. Tel.: +1 402 559 0613; fax: +1 402 559 7302. E-mail address: tsmith@centerfornutrition.org (T.M. Smith). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2015.01.006 1471-0153/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Eating Behaviors