Good Things to Know

Do you have a label from a favorite food??

Family Meals: Benefit Family Education Sense of Unity Family conversations let children see their families values Laughter creates family bonding Five or more meals a week and children are more likely to receive wither A’s and B’s in school Improved language skills—new vocabulary, sentence structure and how to share their point of view

Behavior benefits: Nutrition benefits: Half as likely to try cigarettes or marijuana Half as likely to get drunk monthly 1/3 less likely to try alcohol Less likely to become depressed, develop eating disorders or get pregnant. Higher intakes of fruits, vegetable, grains, and dairy foods Fewer fried foods and soft drinks More likely to make healthier choices when their parents aren’t around.

Weight Benefits: Healthy interactions at mealtimes also help young people develop positive attitudes toward their nutrition, fitness and changing bodies.

Sodium Teens need same amount as adults. 1,500 milligrams per day. Teen boys are the worst offenders; some consuming on the average about 4,3000 mg daily. Teen girls consume about 2,900 mg daily; which is still nearly double the recommended amount.

What happens….. Your fluid balance suffers. Your system hold on to an abnormally large amount of water. Your heart has to pump harder to get blood through your system. Blood pressure goes up or may go up. Risk of developing heart disease. Changing the habit in your teen years is good. You are less likely to suffer from chronic conditions as an adult.

Foods with High Sodium Levels: White bread, oatmeal, ramen noodles, any salted cracker Any chips, popcorn, snacks American cheese, parmesan, cottage cheese Ham, bologna, salami, bacon, Canadian bacon, deli meats Canned stew, ravioli, spaghetti, boxed mac and cheese, canned soups Catsup, barbecue sauce, salad dressings

Hidden Sugar In Food Sugar is not “Bad”. However, sugar is a source of calories that does not provide other nutrients. Therefore, sugar and foods containing large amounts of sugar should be eaten “sparingly” and referred to as “sometimes” foods.

Nutrition Labels Must List Total Amount of Sugar We will use this information to determine : How many total sugar calories the serving of food contains. How many teaspoons of sugar are in the serving of food.

Important Information: 1 gram of sugar contains 4 calories Total sugar in grams divided by 4 = teaspoons of sugar in a serving