Junk Food and Teens, with Maria Bettencourt

Teens and junk food -- an inseparable combination. What's a parent to do? on Oct. 17, 2002, Maria Bettencourt, MPH, joined us in the "Let's Eat" Student Lounge for tips on cutting out the chips.

The opinions expressed in this transcript are those of the health professional and have not been reviewed by a WebMD physician. If you have questions about your health, you should consult your personal physician. This event is meant for informational purposes only.

Moderator: Welcome to the WebMD University Student Lounge! Maria Bettencourt, MPH, is here to answer your questions about getting between your teen and junk food.

Member: My teen sons eat like bandits! Is there any food out there that meets their criteria of good and yet is good for them?

Bettencourt: I would consider junk food those foods that offer very few nutrients and are high in calories, fat, or sugar. There are lots of foods that are good and good for them. Teens are going through a growing phase, so it's important that they eat foods high in nutrients. Things like yogurt, milk, low-fat cheese, fruits and vegetables -- basically following the food guide pyramid for the types of foods that are offered is the best approach to ensure your child is getting the nutrients he needs.

I think one of the important things to remember is that boys are going through an important growth phase. It's understandable they eat a lot at this time. Have available in the home the types of foods that will help them develop like milk, yogurt, low-fat meats for sandwiches after school. You can give them guidance on snacks like pretzels and nuts and low-fat popcorn -- things that can fill them up. Make sure kids have breakfast in the morning and three full meals per day. Teens often try to skip meals and then overeat one meal. Encourage them to eat all three meals and have snacks in between to meet their caloric needs.

Member: What do you consider junk food? I know the obvious things like Doritos and cupcakes, but what about microwave popcorn or Chex mix? There has to be some middle ground between pure junk and raw veggies we parents can work toward.

Bettencourt: The best thing to do to determine whether something is junk food is to read the label. Microwave popcorn can be healthy. It depends on how much fat is in the popcorn. By reading the label, you will be able to tell how much fat is in that particular brand of microwave popcorn. Generally 3-5 g of fat is a low-fat or lower-fat item. So reading the food label will help you determine if that particular product has a lot of fat or sugar and if it's low in nutrients.

Member: I've tried to interest my 14-year-old son in the healthier snacks available but he thinks they're uncool. He's exposed to so much advertising for the big brand-name snacks -- how can I change this perception?

Bettencourt: Very true. Children are bombarded with ads for food and other products. It's a huge concern. I suggest educating your child about commercialism and how it markets products to make the child purchase one food as opposed to another food. The CSPI web site has some very interesting information that talks about commercialism and marketing to children. That may be a good starting point. There is also a new section aimed toward school-age kids. CSPI is Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Member: I've switched from chips to pretzels because they seem like a better alternative. Am I just fooling myself?

Bettencourt: No. Pretzels are a better choice than chips. Chips are often fried. So there are fewer calories in pretzels. They are a good snack choice.

Member: Onion dips, etc., are so fatty, but they can be a way to get kids to eat raw vegetables. Do you think as long as the veggies are going in, using a dip to make it happen is OK?

Bettencourt: I would say yes. You don't have to add a lot of dip to have flavor. Just don't pour a lot of dip onto the veggies. Use it as a flavoring. Or make low-fat dips with low-fat yogurt instead of sour cream or other high-fat items. It's important that children eat the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables. You can also use low-fat cheese and serve over vegetables. Sometimes if veggies are crunchy instead of soft, kids enjoy that more -- often younger kids like that. And don't forget, a variety is very important.

Moderator: Non-fat plain yogurt can be spiced up to make a great dip.

Bettencourt: Yes. Absolutely.

Member: Do you consider mixed nuts to be junk food? I've heard the fat in nuts is good for you.

Bettencourt: Yes. Nuts are good for you. They provide a lot of nutrients. However, they are high in fat. So I recommend eating small amounts. Put them over vegetables or salad or you can add to your cereal. You want to avoid eating a whole bag at one time. It doesn't take a lot of nuts to get a lot of calories. But they are very healthy. The key is the amount you eat at one time.

Member: I'm buying fruit and yogurt but my kids are turning their noses up. What's a mom to do?

Bettencourt: Well, I suggest taking your children to the store and have them choose fruits and vegetables. If they are younger, have them help you prepare foods and do taste testing activities with them at home. You can also add flavoring to fruits or use canned fruit (low-sugar) or natural juice from the fruit. The best time to buy fruit is during season. There is such a great variety. Buying fresh fruit means there is more flavor. You might buy local produce with more flavor from a farmers market, rather than something trucked in that doesn't have all the flavor it could.

Moderator: Vanilla yogurt with some flavoring makes a great dip for fruit.

Bettencourt: You can also make smoothies with fruit, fresh yogurt, and flavoring like vanilla if desired, rather than just eating the fruit by itself. This is just fruit in another form. You can make these at home easily and it's a lot less expensive than at the smoothie stores.

Member: I think portion sizes are more of an issue at our house than the overall choices. How can I teach my kids that supersize fries are too many?

Bettencourt: Well, portion size is a huge issue these days. What's available in fast-food and other restaurants tend to be two to three times the recommended serving size. I think doing some education with your child on recommended serving size and then showing them this compared with the portion size in a restaurant will help them understand that the portion sizes are much larger than the recommended serving size.

Member: Can you suggest a quick and easy snack my 16-year-old can eat in the five minutes she has after school and before cheering practice?

Bettencourt: Well, there are a lot of things. Yogurt is a good snack, as is cereal without too much sugar and fat-free or low-fat milk. Even drinking something like a Carnation Instant Breakfast is a good snack. Fresh fruit or dried fruit is a good snack, too.

Member: Can you suggest a snack that my son can have in the five minutes between the end of classes and football practice? It has to be something that doesn't need refrigeration.

Bettencourt: Fruit or a cereal bar (low-fat) are good examples.

Member: The fact is that teens spend a lot of time out from under our control. They eat a lot of stuff that isn't served by us parents. I can't picture lecturing my kid on the dangers of Ho-Hos when drugs and alcohol are our main worry. But trying to impart a healthy food attitude is important. Is it all in the example we set or should we have a food talk with our teens?

Bettencourt: I think that part of helping a child to grow up to be healthy is what they take into their system, in the foods they eat and physical activity. It's important to talk to your kids about what they eat. It's also important to model good eating and having good foods in your home. Be aware of the foods available and being marketed in the school. Kids spend a lot of time at school. It's not just school meals but in the vending machines and school stores and general school environment.

Moderator: Well, at my son's school, there are soda vending machines, and many of the lunch entrees are provided by fast-food restaurants -- everything from chicken nuggets to pizza to [Japanese style] bento [boxes].

Bettencourt: Yes. California is doing a lot of work on this and have passed laws on what's available in school vending machines. Some states are really working on this. If you as a parent are interested in looking into this and want to begin to address this issue, there are resources out there for you. It's a real issue and it's getting worse.

Member: The schools are full of vending machines of crackers, cookies, and pop. How do I get my kids not to buy that stuff?

Bettencourt: It's hard to get your kids not to buy these things and most kids these days have the resources to buy them. The best way to approach this is to have schools limit access to those machines. Or the school can develop policies to help change the types of foods offered in the machines. Have schools develop a student advisory committee to help make some of these positive changes.

Member: When my 13-year-old goes to friends' houses to watch movies or listen to music, food is always around and it's always junky. As long as we eat healthy meals and she doesn't ruin her appetite, are those junk food sessions doing any harm?

Bettencourt: I would say it depends on how often she is exposed to junk foods. If you are offering healthy food at home and giving the right advice on food she should have, it's hard to control what kids eat outside of the home. If you know them well, you could advise them on the things you would like to see offered. But if you don't, it's kind of out of your control.

Member: I try to limit sugar by serving drinks with Nutrasweet. Is this product safe for kids?

Bettencourt: Artificial sweeteners have been tested on adults but not children. Limit the artificial sweeteners you give your children. Water is a good drink to give. You can use juice as a sweetener rather than artificial sweeteners, too.

Member: There's so much contradictory information in the media these days. I keep hearing about the dangers of too many carbs and I'm confused. Is the food pyramid guide really a good guide?

Bettencourt: I would say that the food pyramid guide is a good guide. It all depends on how you use it. The five basic food groups are a good approach to eating. The pyramid encourages grains (whole grains), fruits and vegetables, and fewer servings of dairy and meat. The way the pyramid is structured is grains, then fruits and vegetables, and meat and dairy in smaller portions. Your meals should be set up like the pyramid so your plate includes greater portions of grains and vegetables and less meat.

Member: How much milk should a teenage girl be drinking each day. I worry that my 16-year-old doesn't get enough calcium.

Bettencourt: Good question. Most teens are not getting enough calcium. The RDA of calcium is 1500 mg. An average glass of milk has about 300 mg. So if your child was just drinking milk, she should be drinking five glasses of milk. This is unrealistic. Include in the diet low-fat cheese, yogurt. You may need to also talk to your doctor about a supplement if your child does not like dairy. Calcium is very important at this age.

Member: My teen daughter goes through waves of eating patterns -- one week it's yogurt intensive, one week it's lots of veggies and rice; this week it's McDonalds. Help!

Bettencourt: That kind of eating pattern is not uncommon for teens, but it can be dangerous in the sense that if they have erratic eating patterns they might be missing out on nutrients they need for proper growth. Use the food guide pyramid and educate your daughter on eating a variety of foods on a regular basis. If she eats erratically it can affect growth and how she feels and how she functions in school and in general.

By eating erratically, some girls try to control their weight. But you can use the food guide pyramid and eat the right portion sizes to get the same end. That way you will still be getting the nutrients in.

Member: When our family goes on a trip, we take some healthy snacks along, but it's always fun to run into the gas station quickie mart and pick up treats while on the road. If you had to pick a couple a choices from the aisles of an interstate convenience store, what would you choose?

Bettencourt: For snacks you will have quite a few choices at the convenience stores along the way. You can do things like air-popped pop corn, pretzels, nuts in small packages, and frozen yogurt on a stick. Some stores even do have fresh fruits available. Don't necessarily reach for the Doritos. If you really look, there are healthier options available.

Member: What about vitamins? Should we be giving them to our teens?

Bettencourt: The best approach is to try to follow a balanced diet. However, it doesn't hurt to have a one-a-day type of vitamin. But I would not focus on a specific vitamin. Just give one that provides 100% of the RDA for each of the vitamins. You really need to read the labels because there are so many to choose from. Stick to the brand names so you are sure you are getting the right amount of content of vitamin. You just don't want to substitute for the food by taking a vitamin. Whole food has more nutrients than you get in any vitamin container. The vitamins in the food interact with each other, which is a positive, too. A one-a-day vitamin is not bad. Good food is just very important.

Member: My daughter isn't a big breakfast eater so I've mandated at least a piece of fruit before she goes to school. My theory is that it's better than nothing. Do I really need to push something else on her?

Bettencourt: Well, breakfast is so important for everyone, but especially school-age children, since it gives a jumpstart for the day. It has been shown in research that they do better in school if they eat breakfast. It could be that your child doesn't want to eat immediately when she gets up. Check with the school to see if there is a breakfast program that your child can participate in. If they don't, find out why. If your child doesn't want to eat a lot, he or she can drink a Carnation Instant Breakfast. It doesn't take a lot of time. Also don't underestimate fruit. But it won't give enough of the energy your child will need before lunch.

Member: What about the high-protein drink mixes available these days. Are they OK for kids as a meal replacement?

Bettencourt: I would say no. Don't use any kind of food product that has more of one nutrient than another. If you give a drink, use something balanced like Carnation Instant Breakfast. Protein has got to be in balance with other nutrients that you take into your body.

Member: Do studies show that teen junk food consumption declines when they become adults? Kids just eat all the time. Most of us slow down once we reach our 20s and 30s.

Bettencourt: I think that studies show eating patterns are established during childhood and are especially important during teen years when teens make decisions about how they do things. Behavior then continues into adulthood. Help your kids make the right choices now so they will make good choices later. Teens go through fads, but it's important to model good behavior with food to help guide them as they mature and reach adulthood.

Moderator: Before we wrap up for today, do you have any final comments for us, Maria?

Bettencourt: I think all the questions were valid. Families struggle with these issues every day. These things are not easy to implement. I encourage parents not to give up if something doesn't work right away. Work and talk with your teens to help them make the right choices and involve them in decision making. Teens can provide a lot of knowledge and can be helpful if asked to help you guide them. I would encourage parents to become involved in their kids' schools, to find out what's available in school, since it also has an impact on what they are eating.

Also look at the amount of time teens spend watching TV and be aware of the advertising and commercialism. We see this on the Internet too. The exposure kids have to this advertising should be limited. Be a good model and provide a less toxic environment by having available healthy foods. Be aware and take action in this area if you are a concerned parent.

Moderator: Thanks for joining us, members, and thanks to Maria Bettencourt, MPH, for being our guest.