I also agree that snacking can be a good thing - if it's done with the right foods.
In Germany, snacking is fairly common. School children have a 10-20 minute break at school around 10am and the teachers encourage them to bring (healthy) snacks/sandwiches from home. At the office, 10am is usually "coffee break" and it's fairly common for someone to bring in treats (e.g. there is always someone with a birthday). My sister's team at work gathers every Friday to have a 10am "sausage breaks". And yes, they still eat lunch later.

A lot of people also have coffee and cake around 3-4pm, much like the English tea time. Especially on weekends, it's common for the family to gather for a piece of homemade cake, fruit bread or cookies. So, it's definitely not a US thing. I just think there is a problem with portion sizes and proliferation of fatty/sugary/chemically enhanced foods - and people don't know anymore what is "normal" food.
Anyway, this is way off topic . Hope you're getting your son motivated for some activities!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mar..._b_764863.html

Is this it?

There are lots of books and articles on the subject of our culture of fake and processed foods. You might also like Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I had no idea just how far gone we are as a country - even the types of seeds we can get for growing our own food is highly managed and controlled. We live in a land of fake food, it is truly no wonder people are fat and unhealthy.