Getting a "thumb's up" on kid snacks: childrens' snacks are an important component of their diet. Which snacks parents say "yes" to depends on a product's characteristics.

"Can I have a snack?" must be one of the most frequently asked questions in households with children. Kids and adults both love to snack, resulting in a $40 billion-a-year snack market, according to Mintel International (Chicago). The good news is that snacking is important to a child's growth and development. With comparatively small stomachs yet with high needs for a steady supply of fuel during the day, meals alone usually do not fill their needs. Snacks are an important part of their total caloric intake. However, the landscape of the snack market is changing, and manufacturers have the ability to be proactive in regards to the trends in the marketplace.

Changing Demographics and Childhood Obesity

Historically, snack companies nave been able to rely on an influx of consumers aging into their category. However, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of kids in the U.S. between the ages of six to 11 years old is projected to decline 1.9% from 1998 to 2008. Albeit a slight decrease, it represents sales that are hard to recapture. Most kids already eat snacks; therefore, market share increases are unlikely. However, because kids are not as brand or product loyal as some adults, new products and packaging may lure them away from competitor's brands. If the new product also can earn the all-important endorsement of the child's parent (a.k.a. the "buying agent"), there is a greater likelihood for sustainable sales potential. Offering healthier alternatives often leads to that endorsement, more so now than ever.

Health concerns, increasingly profiled in the media, have given the snack category a formidable obstacle. Obesity in this country has skyrocketed, so much so that The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, Atlanta) has increased efforts to raise awareness through its Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity. Beginning in October 2000, CDC funded a number of state health departments to help them develop and carry out targeted nutrition and physical activity interventions, in an effort to address the problem of obesity. According to 2003 industry data, "there is twice the number of overweight children as there was 30 years ago."

Many snack companies have begun efforts to tackle this problem, including the two market leaders in the healthy snacks market, Pepsi/Frito-Lay/Quaker Oats (Purchase, N.Y.) and Kraft Foods/Nabisco (Glenview, Ill.). Kraft Foods is perhaps the most well-known company to address the issue of obesity, with public promises to reduce portion size, reformulate products and, where possible, to reduce fat and sugar. A company press release…