We are now ready for lunch; Mom is good
at making lunches. She packs Jimmy a
peanut butter and jelly and cuts the crust
off for him just the way he likes it. She
cuts up a small apple, a chocolate chip
granola bar, a serving of Pringles and a
Capri sun. This sounds like a pretty tasty
lunch to me.
I don’t want you to focus on just sugar,
let’s check vitamins. What is in this meal
or what is not in this meal? Knowing that
everyone has different intake levels, let’s
take a closer look by using the standard
2000 calorie intake on food labels. Mom
uses mostly popular brands that she sees
advertisements for and likes to save money (who doesn’t) and sometimes gets the
store brand. I researched the food labels
at FoodFacts.com. This is what I found
was in Jimmy's lunch:
A=2%; D=0%; E=11%; K=7%;
C=44%; B-complex=3%.
These are estimates, but they are still an
insignificant amount of essential vitamins.
Vitamins are so important for bodily function and performance in class.
For breakfast and lunch we have learned
that moderation is so important when
making meals. We need more of a variety
on our plates. ChooseMyPlate.gov provides a great, easy way to make sure you
have the correct amount of vegetables,
fruits, protein, carbohydrates, dairy and
fats.
When choosing foods, whether for an
adult or a child, you want to look for foods
that are nutrient dense. This means that
in a single serving this food item holds an
abundant amount of