Socio-ecological Factors Associated with Snacking Behaviors of Basic School Students in Nepal YADU R. UPRETI 1 *, SHERI BASTIEN 2, 3 , BIRGITTE BJONNESS 4 and BHIMSEN DEVKOTA 5 1 Central Department of Education, Tribhuvan University (TU), Kathmandu, Nepal. 2 Department of Public Health Science, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), As, Norway. 3 Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. 4 Faculty of Science and Technology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), As, Norway. 5 Department of Health and Physical Education, Mahendra Ratna Campus, Tribhuvan University (TU), Kathmandu, Nepal. Abstract Consumption of unhealthy snack foods among young children in low-and-middle- income countries is high and Nepal is no exception. A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted among 259 students to investigate their snacking behaviors and examine factors that infuence the behavior from a socio-ecological framework. The study used self-reported questionnaires, food recall diaries, and participant observation forms to collect data. Students' snacking behavior was the dependent variable where as age, sex, grade, parent's education, parent's sources of income, religion, ethnicity, family type, and living arrangements were the independent variables. Chi-square test and logistic regression were applied to analyze the results. The main fndings of the study indicate that 89 percentof students consumed school snacks regularly, including unhealthy snacks, which were either commercially prepared junk foods bought from nearby vending shops and grocery stores or deep- oil-fried snacks food prepared at the school canteen. Bivariate analysis shows that age, grade, father's education, and the student's religion were signifcantly associated with snacking behaviors of students. The multivariate analysis indicates that grade (aOR= 0.259, P < .05) and religion (aOR= 0.373, P < .05) were the signifcant predictors. The snacking behaviors among basic level students are infuenced by multilevel factors, which is consistent with the socio-ecological model. The study's fndings further suggest that comprehensive and efective school-based nutrition education interventions are necessary to promote healthy snack consumption behaviors of students. Current Research in Nutrition and Food Science www.foodandnutritionjournal.org ISSN: 2347-467X, Vol. 08, No. (3) 2020, Pg. 774-784 CONTACT Yadu R. Upreti yaduram2014@gmail.com Central Department of Education, Tribhuvan University (TU), Kathmandu, Nepal. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Enviro Research Publishers. This is an Open Access article licensed under a Creative Commons license: Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY). Doi: 10.12944/CRNFSJ.8.3.10 Article History Received: 14 Septemner 2020 Accepted: 05 December 2020 Keywords Chitwan District of Nepal; Nutrition Education; School children; Snacking Behaviors; Socio-Ecological Model (Sem).