Three trends in Americans’ eating patterns are particularly prominent: snacking, eating at fast-food restaurants, and consuming frozen dinners. The impact of these trends portends both good news and bad news.Snacks are foods consumed between the three main meals of the day. Most Americans have at least one snack per day, and the sale of snack foods is growing at a rate of 10% a year. College students have shown preferences for soft drinks, candies, gum, and fresh fruit as snacks, followed by bakery items, milk, and corn and potato chips.

Snacking, or “grazing,” is clearly a trend, and it does not have to be an unhealthy one. The key issue is not the time or frequency of eating but what is eaten. Nutritionally dense foods eaten as snacks are just as good for health as when they are consumed as meals. The converse is also true; foods low in nutrient density eaten at mealtime are just as worthless as they are when eaten as snacks. The problem occurs when a person’s diet is dominated by foods low in nutrient density. With the exception of foods restricted for medical reasons, all foods can contribute to a healthful diet. Rather than to rule out snacking, you should promote snack foods that enhance wellness.

Fast-Food Eating

Changes in the American family are mirrored in the trend toward eating in fast-food restaurants. Family meals at home are becoming the exception rather than the rule. Breakfasts and lunches are seldom eaten in a family setting by many american families, and as many as 25% of american house­holds do not have a sit down dinner as often as 5 nights a week. Instead, more families plan mealtimes at fast-food restaurants. If the findings of a recently reported longitudinal study of 1120 women representative of the population at large, eating at fast-food restaurants presents a challenge to the nutrition conscious person. The study examined the effects of three eating patterns fast-food restaurants. If service restaurants, and home-mixed (70% at home and 30% away from home). The results indicated that the women in a fast-food eating pattern consumed the greatest amounts of calories, total fat saturated fat, and sodium. Women who ate primary at full-service restaurants consumed diets with the highest overall fat density. Nutrient densities for fiber, calcium, vitamin C, and folate were particularly low in both away-from home eating patterns. In contrast, women in the home mixed eating pattern consumed the most healthful diets.

From a nutritional viewpoint the criticisms of fast-food eating are the same as those of the rest of the american diet: too much protein, fat, calories, and sodium and not enough complex carbohydrates and fiber. The average meal of a cheeseburger, milk shake, and fries supplies about 1500 calories, 43% of which comes from fat. Chicken and fish are just as fatty as other protein sources at fast-food restaurants because they are breaded and fried. Frying has the same effect on potatoes. Milk shakes get most of their calories from sugars.

Eating at fast-food restaurants does not have to be nutritionally worthless. Many restaurants are now aware that americans are becoming more knowledgeable about the nutrient content of food and are demanding wholesome, safe, and nutritious foods. Consequently there has been a trend toward more nutritious menus, including salad, pasta, and potato bars. With good judgment in the choice of foods, an occasional meal at a fast-food chain does not have to compromise a well-balanced diet.

Frozen dinners have also become part of the American diet. Consumers spend billions of dollars a year on them, and food manufacturers are constantly turning out new lines. The challenge for health-conscious consumers is to determine which ones fit easily into a nutritious diet.

In a study of frozen foods, strict criteria were used to identify entrees that are suitable for people wanting to limit their intake of fat, calories, and sodium while including essential vitamins and minerals. The results were encouraging. A total of 173 frozen dishes had less than 20% of calories from fat, 73 contained less than 200 milligrams of sodium per 100 calories, and 50 had at least 30% of the RDA for vitamins A and/or C. The results of a later study were equally encouraging. It identified 22 dinners that contained 0% to 10% of calories from fat and 33 that contained 11 % to 20% of calories from fat. Frozen dinners can be evaluated by applying the following criteria:

• No more than 30% of calories from fat, preferably less
• No more than 200 milligrams of sodium per 100 calories
• At least 40% of RDA for vitamins A and/or C

However, just because a dinner meets the above criteria, it does not necessarily provide every nutrient. Some meals are likely to be deficient in some nutrients, so foods that will compensate must be added.