Introduction: Replacing meals with readily available snacks has become a rapidly escalating dietary habit especially among children and adolescents in many countries. Aim: The analysis of the frequency of the phenomenon of eating snacks, their type and the assessment of its contribution in the daily energy intake among children and adolescents. Material and Methods: The data came from two demographic groups: 1. Polish nationwide sample of children aged 4, drawn from the register of Personal Identification Number PESEL, surveyed in 2007. 2. Randomly selected sample (two-stage draw, school and class) of adolescents aged 11 - 15, from Warsaw, surveyed in 2005 - 2006. In children aged 4, the data on the consumption of snacks and their type came from the all-day consumption record, in adolescents the data were collected by means of an interview on the consumption during the last 24 hours, preceding the survey. Results: The frequency of eating snacks is high, because 98.8% of four-year-old children and 85% of adolescents consumed them at least once a day or more. Snacks brought 548 kcal in children, and 455 kcal in adolescents, which accounted for respectively 30% and 20% of the daily energy. Every fifth four-year-old child and every tenth student met over half (≥50%) of the daily energy requirement with the use of snacks. Snacks classified as unhealthy when eaten in excess include primarily sweets (44% children) and (35% adolescents), followed by cakes, cookies, biscuits and salty snacks. As healthy snacks, fruits, vegetables, cereal products and as a third group - dairy products were most often consumed. Conclusions: In growing habit of eating snacks, it is potentially possible to improve the diet in the pro-health direction, since modifying the choice of products, especially in adolescents, could reduce the existing, most common deficiencies of minerals and vitamins in the diet.
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