Snack." I hate the very word.

With four kids, I'm always on some list or other to provide them. Or rather "it." "Snack" is now a plural. As in, "Mom, it's your turn to bring snack.' "

I don't mean yogurt and fruit on a summer afternoon at my house. I mean a sweet, sugary treat at every organized event the kids attend. Every sports event, every school event, every church event, every recreation-department event now includes "snack."

These kids can't go two hours without some sugary treat being provided in some official capacity.

Several years ago, a young Frenchwoman stayed with my young family and me for a few weeks during the summer. A sweet girl, she didn't think much of America. Too many flags displayed, too much hard work and far too few stories on the news about foreign news events for her taste. She was French, so, well, I wasn't offended.

The place I agreed with her was on Americans and food. She simply couldn't believe that there was nothing we could do that didn't involve food. Absolutely no organized event, particularly for children, could forgo treats. Apparently, in France, they are actually able to hold school pageants and sports events for children without sugary food being part of it all.

Who knew?

Look, I'm hardly holding the French up as an example for anything, and for all I know this is just a reaction to their war-deprived past. But I have to think they are onto something here.

My second-grader, Maddie, played baseball again this season. Her team coaches, bless them, decided the team would not be providing "snack" after every game. So Maddie's team started raiding the other team's "snack" and getting the leftovers. Our team capitulated, and pretty soon our parents were bringing "snack."

Then there are the park-district activities. The two younger ones are in day camp. One can presume the children have eaten lunch before they arrive. Never mind; parents must take turns providing "snack" each day.

Oh, and school? When I was a kid, past kindergarten there was no such thing as snack time. There was lunch. Period. Today? It's all about "snack"! Every parent takes turn providing it for the younger grades, or sends one with her child in the older grades.

What is this with constant eating? I get irritated that my kids expect three meals a day, and then to throw "snack" in as well makes me really crazy.

On top of everything else, it's a time waster. Why can't they do like I do? Coffee in the morning, "grazing" about 2 p.m. and some sort of dinner, if it seems really necessary, about 7 p.m.?

Well, meals — and a piece of fruit in between if one gets hungry — are one thing. But the routine of sugary "snack" is ridiculous. No wonder by the year 2010 almost half of all American kids will be overweight or even obese.

They're growing up to think that if they exercise for 30 minutes, a gooey treat is part of cool-down time.

I'm determined that the next time it's my turn to bring "snack" for anything, I'll make it carrots, maybe with a little French dressing for dipping, and some water bottles. Maybe, at the very least, I'll create such a stir that I will get off "snack" rotation once and for all.

— Betsy Hart hosts the "It Takes a Parent" radio show on WYLL-AM 1160 in Chicago. Her Web site is http://www.BetsyHart.net.