Abstract

Over the last decades, eating episodes in addition to the three daily main meals have been observed worldwide; the prevalence of these “snacking” episodes raises health questions that mindful eating may contribute to answering. The goal of the symposium entitled “Mindful eating applied to snacking: a promising behavioral approach supported by research” was to introduce, for the first time in a scientific congress, the emerging science related to mindful eating and to evaluate its application to snacking occasions. It was held at the 21st International Congress of Nutrition (IUNS), which took place in Buenos Aires from October 15-20, 2017. Three primary topics were presented: 1) the definition of snacking and its role in dietary quality in adults; 2) the value of eating mindfully as an emerging concept, in relation to snacking occasions; 3) a detailed approach to mindful eating from theoretical principles to applications. Promoting mindful eating is a relatively new ‘third-wave’ cognitive-behavioral approach that enhances individuals’ awareness of, and attention to, physiological hunger and satiety, eating enjoyment, portion size and nutritional health when eating or when making food choices. Encouraging results have been obtained in obese individuals. Applied to snacking, mindful eating may help individuals’ better control food intake, and help orient their choices without compromising pleasure while eating. This symposium was organized by Mondelez International R&D.

KEYWORDS: mindfulness, mindful eating, snacking, food behavior, attentive eating, taste satisfaction, hunger cues, satiety cues