Objective: To examine the impact of adherence to a healthy snacking component of a 6 month school-based intervention program for overweight and obese children. Design: Randomized controlled intervention trial Methods: Mexican American children who were = 85th percentile for body mass index (BMI) were recruited between 2005-2012 from three Houston schools. Children participated in a 12-week instructor led intensive intervention program that included nutrition education, physical activity, and a snacking component which consisted of a daily choice of peanuts and/or peanut butter snacks. Children (12±0.6 years) (n= 257) were divided into either low or high snacking adherence groups based on their responses on a peanut food frequency questionnaire. The low adherence group reported consuming peanuts or peanut butter = once per week and the high adherence group > once per week over 6 months. Change of BMI, standardized BMI (zBMI), triceps skinfold, and weight were compared at six months of children reporting high and low levels of adherence to the snacking component. Analysis: T-tests were performed with SPSS version 22 with level of significance set at P <0.05. Results: Children in the high snacking adherence group demonstrated significantly greater decreases in BMI (P = 0.021) and zBMI (P = 0.005) at six months compared to the children in the low snacking adherence group. Although triceps skinfold did not significantly decrease, anthropometric measures trended towards significance. Conclusions and Implications: Peanuts provided an acceptable, healthy snack for children. Although peanuts were relatively high in fat, the weight loss intervention of replacing energy-dense and unhealthy snacks with peanuts and peanut butter helped children maintain a healthy body weight.