What exactly am I eating?

I am not good at counting calories. I just look for things that should be healthy-although we all know grilled chicken and salmon can be loaded with butter and oil-so the "healthy" options aren't always that healthy. I like the restaurants that have a "lite" menu, but we don't go to those places that often because we have three little boys. It's just too stressful and too expensive. I do feel like I gained five pounds this week because we were on vacation and we ate out more than normal. Do you have any tips for eating out "healthy?"

FROM ABC: Good news if you count calories when you're eating out. Bad news if you assume you're picking healthy options at a restaurant. Ever wonder how accurate those menus are in listing calorie information?

The government requires restaurant chains with twenty or more locations to disclose on its menus how many calories are packed into each dish. But can you count on their figures as you're watching your own? A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association says, mostly, yes.

The authors took their own measure of the calories of some 269 food items at 42 randomly-selected restaurants in Massachusetts, Arkansas, and Indiana. They found the calorie contents were-- on average-- more or less as advertised.

- forty per cent of the items were over ten calories higher than listed
- fifty-two per cent were at least ten calories *less* than stated
- just nineteen per cent of the foods were more than one hundred calories over what the menus claimed

There were more discrepancies in sit-down restaurants than in fast-food places. The authors say it may be that sit-down restaurants don't manage portion-size as precisely as fast-food ones.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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Displaying Calories at Fast Food Chains

If you have been reading this blog, you know I am constantly thinking about ways to get my kids to eat healthier. It's not like I pour Kool-Aid down their throats or give them donuts. I just think they could eat better. Neither one of them is very fond of veggies and we do tend to eat out more than I would like.

The following ABC story looks at whether having the calories displayed on the big menu above the cash register at fast food chains will help parents make better choices. I tend to think it will. I think I have a basic knowledge of which menu items are worse than others, but a big reminder right in front of my face would probably sway my impulse decision to get greasy fries.

Knowing the calorie count in a side of fries may make you think twice about ordering it. Nationally, many cities are considering laws ordering restaurants to display the calorie information on their menus. And a new study shows the calorie counts could make a big difference in patrons' orders.

A McDonald's quarter pounder and large fries totals nearly 1000 calories -nearly half of the daily allowance. Both California and New York are considering State laws that would require calorie information be displayed on menus, and New York City implemented such a law in fast food restaurants last month. The restaurant industry has fought back, saying there is no proof that calorie counts would help patrons make healthy choices or reduce obesity levels.

But today a new study arms health workers with some strong evidence. A survey of more than 7,000 people finds that just 4 per cent of patrons noticed calorie information at chains such as McDonald's, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut - where calorie information is not prominently displayed. However, 31 per cent of patrons at Subway chains, where calorie counts are visible right as you order, noticed the signs and they ordered food containing 52 fewer calories.

Researchers say fast food is so prevalent that reducing consumption by just 50 calories per person would make a big change nationwide.

This study is published in the American Journal of Public Health by researchers from the New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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