# Snacking structure

**Should snacks be scheduled or on demand?**

Whether eating happens at set meal and snack times, on demand all day, or with no snacks at all.

In short: Parents choose between 3 main approaches: Set meals and snacks; Grazing on demand; No snacks. Evidence: your call. No outcome evidence picks a winner. Preference, culture, money and logistics decide. Best settled: toddler.

- Area: Food and eating
- Evidence: Your call
- Best settled: Toddler
- First published: 2026-10-03
- Last updated: 2026-10-05
- Page: https://www.raisingyourchild.com/topics/food-and-eating--snacking-structure

## Snacking structure: what are the options?

1. **Set meals and snacks**: Meals and snacks happen at regular times, with nothing in between.
2. **Grazing on demand**: The child eats whenever they are hungry.
3. **No snacks**: The child eats only at meals.

## Snacking structure: what does the evidence say?

**Your call.** No outcome evidence picks a winner. Preference, culture, money and logistics decide.

Essentially no trial evidence found

## What else is worth knowing?

Regular meal and snack times mean a child arrives at meals hungry. Eating whenever they like suits some families and makes meals harder for others. This connects to how you handle picky eating.

## Questions to ask each other

- Do we want set times for eating or flexibility?
- What snacks feel fine and which do not?
- How do we handle a child who is always asking for food?

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General information, not medical advice. Two parents can each answer this and compare: https://www.raisingyourchild.com/explore?cat=food-and-eating&topic=food-and-eating--snacking-structure