Shopping

Grocery shopping can get a little confusing when you're trying to stick to a healthy meal plan. It seems like every packaged food has some health claim on it: low-fat, fat-free, reduced fat, low-salt, high-fiber, heart-healthy, lite, natural.

Keep in mind that a health claim can be true even if the product isn't necessarily all that healthy. For example, "reduced fat" means that there is less fat in this product than in the full-fat product, however, there could still be a lot of fat in the "reduced" product. Plus, more sugar is often added to make up for the taste lost when fat is removed. In some cases, low-fat products have just as many-or even more carbohydrates than their full-fat counterparts. To get the real scoop on packaged food, you have to know your way around the "Nutrition Facts" label.

First, look at the serving size. Is that about the same as the portion you or your child usually eats? Often, the serving size on a package is less than you expect. All of the calories, fat, carbohydrates and other information on the label are for the serving size listed.

Next, look at the "total carbohydrate" line. It tells you how many grams of carbohydrate are in the serving size listed at the top. The amount of carbohydrates eaten is the main influence on blood glucose levels, and it's the key information you need if you're doing carbohydrate counting. Many foods also include exchange values on their labels, which is helpful for those using the exchange system.

Then look at the calories and the number of calories from fat. In general, you want to shoot for 30 percent or less of total fat in your child's diet. A quick way to estimate percent of fat in the food is to divide the total number of calories by three. If that number is more than the "calories from fat" number, the product gets less than 33% of its calories from fat. If it's less, the product is more than 33% fat. (Of course, there is room for high-fat foods in your child's diet, as long as they are balanced by low-fat choices, exercise, and/or insulin.) Also, check out the types of fat contained in the food. Saturated fat is the unhealthiest type and you should minimize consumption of that type of fat.