Want a healthy body for your kids? But confused by the plethora of suggestions and often useless advice? Health and nutrition expert NEELANJANA SINGH points out the way to eat right and stay fit.
In these times of micro-information, reading food labels, which help consumers gain valuable nutritional information, is necessary. Often, however, what is promised is not delivered, especially where low fat and low sugar claims are concerned. This is because, in India, there are no strict guidelines that govern the details and authenticity of the information provided on food labels.
If at all we get to see labels on our food products, they tend to be incomplete or mysterious. Then, at times, the nutritional information provided is slanted so as to make it appealing. For instance, although one serving of granola bar contains oats, honey and raisins, it also contains more sugar than traditional glazed doughnuts!
In this excerpt from ‘Our Kid Eats Everything! Get Your Children To Eat Right Without A Fight’, health and nutrition expert Neelanjana Singh shows readers how to make sense of food labels so that they can take informed food choices.
It’s not always easy to figure out what’s what on a label. Here are some examples that will clarify the issues that concern parents and kids.
As a prototype, take nacho crisps. Now let us look at how many servings a packet contains. The serving per pack/container is an important detail to be noted. I would like to alert you to the fact that many packets mention the total number of servings in the bag in not very precise terms such as ‘about 5’ or ‘approx. 5’, which may really be an underestimated amount. The total weight of the product will help us make this simple calculation. For example, if the net weight of the packet reads 170g, but at the same time it mentions that one serving size is 30g, then you should be wary of the label reading ‘approx. 5 servings’. This is one of the most common ways for brands to cover up for an evident discrepancy of 20g (in this case).
1 How to Understand Values for Fats: Looking at percentages rather than amounts gives you a better idea of how much fat a product contains. Unfortunately, most of the Indian food companies do not represent food values in terms of percentage on the label. In such cases, we have to make an estimate based on the amount stated in grams.
Many food companies quote ridiculously small serving sizes so that the product appears to be a healthy one. When you open up a bag of chips, how likely are you to stop eating after just 30g – a typically quoted serving size – of it (just 15–20 pieces)? …
Watching out for the type of fat is also important. Check values of saturated fat and trans fats on the label.
A popular brand of milk chocolate may state that the total fat in a mid-sized bar is 37 per cent, but the saturated fat content is 60 per cent! The recommendation is to limit saturated fats to 8–10% of the total fat in the product. Trans fats are not desirable and should ideally be avoided altogether.
2 Sodium values: You may perhaps know that many naturally occurring foods have sodium present in it. Thus, the body really does not need much of added salt except in special conditions. You may find it intriguing that almost all the salted snacks manufactured in India do not even mention the sodium salt values on their packs.
Many of these packs are actually loaded with salt, containing over 20 per cent of Daily Value or DV, which is excessive considering the many packs that kids devour. Some chips contain 14.7 per cent sodium per serving, which again makes it a significant source of the same. Go for foods that contain less than 400mg sodium per serving.
3 Protein Values: Ideally, snacks for children should contain a reasonable amount of protein (15–20 per cent of the total calories). Protein is important for growth and muscle development in children. Granola bars are touted as great snack options for children. Did you know that many of these contain as little as 3g protein in one whole bar? Thus, when such bars are consumed as a snack option, one has to ensure that protein needs are met adequately from other sources during the day. This is a good time to point out the fact that that inadequate protein intake can slow down the metabolism of carbohydrates too.
4 Total Carbohydrates: The body needs energy, which it derives mainly from carbohydrates. If a snack provides 10 per cent of the calories from carbs, it is a good thing, but paying attention to the source of carb is just as important. Whole grain is preferable over sugar as a source of carbohydrate. It is also important to remember that if the snack has loads of salt and fat accompanying the healthy carb, it will negate the healthy aspect of the carb. You may notice on some food labels the mention of ‘1 carbohydrate choice/serve’. One ‘choice’ or ‘serve’ of carbohydrate is 15g, which provides 60 calories (1g carbohydrate provides 4 calories).
5 Sugars: We do not need simple sugars in large amounts. When looking out for snacks that are healthy, go for ones low on sugar (sugar should be 5 per cent of the total calories required in a day) Simple sugars are added to snacks, candies, bars and so on, and should be consumed only in limited amounts. Many of the chocolates imply that they are healthy because of the high cocoa content (50 per cent and above) but have large amounts of added sugars. One bar of a commonly available brand of dark chocolate contains nearly half its weight as sugar (38g in a bar of 80g.). Even in granola bars, the amount of sugar is quite high (13g of sugar present in a bar of 35g, which means that 37 per cent is just sugar).
6 Vitamins and Minerals: Check the food label to see if the food is a rich source of any of these. A granola bar contains calcium 2% DV and iron 2% DV. It does not contain any significant amounts of Vitamin A and Vitamin C. If a food item only provides such minuscule amounts of important nutrients, it would be wise to switch to healthier alternatives.
7 Fibre: If the product has < 10% of DV, then it is quite obviously not a significant source of fibre.
(Excerpt from ‘Our Kid Eats Everything! Get Your Children To Eat Right Without A Fight’ by Neelanjana Singh; Published by Hachette India; Pp: 311; Price: Rs 350.)
