By: Kristi Tamaki, RD / Best Teen Diets contributor

Key Points:

• We cannot meet the dietary guidelines without paying attention to saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars

• Choose low-fat, low-sodium and no-added-sugar options

• Dairy and protein foods are the foods that contribute the most to the excessive calorie intake

The problem:  If you have made an attempt to track your food intake using SuperTracker or another tool of choice, maybe you have seen how difficult it can be to meet the recommended intakes of each food group (fruit, vegetable, dairy, grains, etc) while not going over your recommended oils and saturated fat intake.  Take a look here:



A recent study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics reported that we are more likely to follow the recommendation to consume specific amounts from each food group (ie: 1 cup of fruit), but less likely to follow the guidelines that say to limit saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars.  For example, we drink milk to meet our daily recommended intake, but choose whole milk instead of low-fat or fat-free.  Or we eat chicken, but fried  instead of roasted and skinless.  The food groups that contribute the most to excess calories from fat and sugar? Dairy and protein foods.     

What we must do:  In order to meet all the recommended guidelines (aka, have a near perfect graph in SuperTracker), we must choose foods that fit into each food group AND that are low in fat and sodium and have little to no added sugars.  Sound impossible?  Here are some resources that provide tips on how to go about meeting the guidelines correctly:

• 2010 Dietary Guidelines: Appendix 2

• Chapter 3 of the Dietary Guidelines: Food and Food Components to Reduce

• USDA Food Patterns

• Choose My Plate's SuperTracker Tool

TIP: Start with dairy and try modifying your weekly intakes to adequately follow the guidelines.  Choose low-fat or fat-free milks and yogurts in their unflavored (plain) forms.

Access the partial/full research article at: http://www.andjrnl.org/article/S2212-2672(12)01157-4/abstract


Best Teen Diets recommends healthy well balanced eating that includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, protein and low-fat or fat-free dairy. We offer nutrition information for teens, parents and educators that emphasizes the importance of healthy eating for peak performance. For more information regarding healthy eating for teens visit www.bestteendiets.org