Prepared by
Beth Reames, PhD, LDN, RD,

Diane Linder, EdD, LDN, RD
and

Donna Montgomery, MS

Since we eat fast foods so often, it's very important that we learn how to make smart choices.

Table of Contents for Maternal & Infant Nutrition Introduction Go For a Healthy Pregnancy Prenatal Weight Gain Foods for Two - Baby and You Smoking, Drinking and Doing Drugs Can Hurt Your Baby Fast Foods Snacks Smart Food Shopping Infant Feeding From Birth to One Year Review questions Back to Nutrition Curriculum Lessons

Fast Foods

Americans eat more than one out of every five meals away from home. Fast-food restaurants serve over one-third of these. Fast foods are a way of life for most of us.

Most fast foods provide essential nutrients including protein and certain vitamins and minerals. Few fast foods, however, are rich in calcium, vitamin A, vitamin C, fiber and folic acid. Many are high in fat and sodium, too. Since we eat fast foods so often, it's very important that we learn how to make smart choices. Where you eat affects the choices available. Choose restaurants that provide a wide variety of foods. Fast foods can be selected which fit into the Food Guide Pyramid and which follow the Dietary Guidelines (to eat fat, sodium and sugar in moderation).

It's your total diet that is most important though. If you eat a fast-food meal high in fat and sodium and low in nutrients, balance it by eating lower-fat, nutrient-dense foods throughout the rest of the day.

Making the Healthy Fast-Food Choice!

Breakfast:

• Scrambled eggs with an English muffin (use jelly only - not butter).
• Pancakes with syrup only.
• Fruit muffins.
• Juice.
• Low-fat milk.
• No breakfast sandwiches! Croissants and biscuits with combinations of sausage, bacon, ham, egg and cheese are very high in fat and sodium!

Lunch:

• Regular hamburger ordered plain or with mustard.
• Roast beef sandwich with a little barbecue sauce.
• Baked potato.
• Salad.
• Frozen yogurt.
• Low-fat milk.
• Juice.
• If you order fries, split them with your friend!

Supper:

• Grilled chicken (sandwich or salad).
• Avoid biscuits, coleslaw and gravy.
• Order corn if it's not soaked in butter.
• Salad with low-fat dressing on the side (so you can use just a little!).
• Salad bar - lots of carrots, tomatoes and other vegetables.
• Baked potato with broccoli and a little cheese.
• If fried chicken is your only choice, pull off all the skin before you eat it.

With these types of substitutions, you could cut the amount of fat almost in half while doubling the needed nutrients.

If you ate a typical fast-food meal, guess how much fat you'd get:

Breakfast: sausage biscuit = seven teaspoons of fat

Lunch: big hamburger, fries, fried pie, milk shake = 19 teaspoons of fat

Supper: three-piece fried chicken dinner = 14 teaspoons of fat

Total: 40 Teaspoons of Fat!

Keep Fast Foods Safe To Eat

Just because food is cooked doesn't mean it's safe to eat for hours. Eat pizza, hamburgers, nachos, tacos, fried chicken and other fast-food items right away. Don't leave food out or on the counter or in a hot car. Refrigerate leftovers or place in cooler with ice.

Do not keep leftovers for more than a couple of days. Thoroughly reheat leftovers before eating. Don't reheat in original wrap or container.

Snacks

Many people eat smaller meals and snacks during the day, instead of three regular meals. This is OK if nutritious foods are selected. Try to avoid foods loaded with sugar, salt and fat. Look for snacks that provide protein, calcium, vitamin A, vitamin C and folic acid. Keep these snacks handy to help stay on track!

It's important to sit down and eat a meal with your family when you can. Sometimes that's not possible. You just pick up snacks all day long. That's OK, if you make snacks count and if they provide the nutrients you need for a healthy body and a healthy baby. Snacks can be selected which fit the Food Guide Pyramid and which follow the Dietary Guidelines. Some snacks are best choices anytime, some are OK sometimes and some are OK just once in a while:

BEST Anytime	O.K. Sometimes	O.K. Just once in a while
Low-fat Cheese Lean Roast Beef Turkey and Chicken Plain Popcorn Dry Roasted Nuts Fruit /Fruit Juice Skim / Low-fat Milk Whole-grain Cereal Frozen Yogurt/Ice Milk Raw Vegetables Peanut Butter Tuna in Water	Cheese Low-fat Ham Cheese Crackers Pretzels Roasted Nuts Graham Crackers Whole Milk Angel Food Cake Ice Cream Vegetable Pizza Raisins Tuna in Oil	Bologna Hot Dog French Fries Chips Doughnut Candy Bar Soft Drink Snack Cake Danish Pepperoni Pizza Pickles Olives

Snacks at Home

• Pour and sip low-fat milk, vegetable juices, 100% fruit juices, shakes, smoothies, fruit freezes, soups or hot chocolate.
• Spread or dip peanut butter, low-fat cottage cheese, yogurt dip or cheese spread.
• Nibble and munch fruit, cereal, popcorn, raisins, nuts or sunflower seeds.
• Track down a soft pretzel, lemonade, frozen yogurt or oatmeal-raisin cookies, plain popcorn or pizza.

Snacks at the Service Station Food Store

• Buy crackers and cheese, a cheese sandwich, fruit juice, pretzels, milk, fruit yogurt or ice cream, fruit newtons or oatmeal cookies.

Snacks at the Vending Machine

• Choose peanuts, peanut butter crackers or a granola bar, fruit juice or milk.

Smart Food Shopping

Good nutrition begins in the grocery store. It's important to plan how much money you have to spend. Planning is the key to smart food buying. That means planning a food budget, planning meals and snacks and planning a shopping list.

Once you know how much money you have, you can begin planning. If you don't get a paper, it may be worth buying one the day the food ads appear. This is usually Wednesday or Thursday. Most stores also post their ads in the store. You can look at these before you shop. Plan what you will eat for the week. The more planning you do, the better you will eat and the less chance you have for overspending.

Shopping Lists and Shopping Aids

Make a shopping list. In fact, it's a good idea to keep an ongoing list. When you think of something you need, jot it down. Making a list will save you time and money at the store. Shopping aids such as unit pricing, open dating, nutrition labeling and ingredient labeling can help you make wise selections in the supermarket. These shopping aids will help you become a comparison shopper. It is important to compare price among different brands, sizes and forms of a product. Comparing price per serving is the most reliable way to find the best buy in meats, fish and poultry.

Unit price is the price per pound, ounce, quart or other unit. Most large stores have unit price labels on the display shelves above or below canned or packaged foods. Compare unit prices to find the brand of food and container size that costs the least per unit. The large economy size will often have the lowest unit price, but it may not be a bargain if some gets thrown away. Choose the package that best fits both your meal plan and your budget.

Some foods have parts you can't eat, like the bone and fat in meat or the cores, pits or peels of fresh fruits and vegetables. For these foods, the lowest price per pound isn't always the best buy. To find the best buy, you need to compare the costs of the amounts you need for a serving.

Determining the cost of a meal

You may be able to look at a package and estimate the number of servings. To find the cost of a meal:

• First think of how many meals a package will serve.
• Then divide the number of meals you expect to get into the price for the package. This gives you the cost per meal.

Other Shopping Tips

• Clip coupons only for things you need. Often store brands of the same products are cheaper than using coupons. That means that you must compare prices when you are shopping.
• Decide where to shop. It is usually best to shop at a large supermarket. They have the biggest selection of foods. This gives you a better chance to compare prices and find bargains.
• Food labels can tell you a lot about what's inside the package. To see what you are really buying, read the label. Look for the list of ingredients. Ingredients are listed in order from largest to smallest amount.
• Nutrition labels can help to get the most nutrition for your money.
• To protect food quality, pick up perishables such as meats, dairy products and frozen vegetables last. Go straight home and put food away to keep it safe.
• Many highly processed or convenience foods with most of the work done for you are available in today's supermarket. Learn to compare prices. Usually, the more processed the item is, the higher the price.
• Be sure to eat before shopping. That way you won't be tempted to buy something not on your list.