Public Health Division, Region 5

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Region 5 News

Tips for Staying Healthy When Eating Out

(Las Cruces) -- I really like dining out. I like the simplicity of it: I sit down at a table that isn’t cluttered with last week’s mail, choose something that sounds delicious, and wait while someone else makes my meal for me. Then, after enjoying my meal without the dog drooling beside me, someone else picks up the dishes and washes them. For a busy working family, going out to eat is often a much-needed respite in a chaotic week.

Preparing your own food at home usually provides the best nutrition for your family. You can control the ingredients and portion sizes. Often the food at restaurants is too high in salt, fat, and sugar, and the portion sizes are too large. But for busy families, we often need to rely on eating out once in a while to give ourselves a break. I don’t know about you, but if I am not careful I can have a tendency to splurge when I’m dining out.

I have tried to be a smarter consumer when eating out. I am concerned about good nutrition and feeding my family well. As a community, too many of us are at an unhealthy weight. With current trends, if you have a group of three children, it is likely that one of the children will be either overweight or obese. In a group of three adults, it is likely that one is obese and one is overweight. This means that adults at a healthy weight are actually in the minority. Obesity leads to a myriad of health complications for both children and adults including diabetes, heart disease, acid reflux, and asthma.

There are some things we can do when eating out that can ensure that we are making good choices. Look for words such as “light,” “baked,” “broiled,” “grilled,” or “steamed.” Avoid words such as “smothered,” “breaded,” “creamy,” and “fried.” Substitute a fruit cup, steamed vegetables, applesauce, or a salad for a side of French fries. If you do go for a salad, be careful about the dressing you choose. You will probably want to make choices that are labeled “low fat” and ask for a dressing on the side rather than on the salad. This way you can control the portion you actually consume. In fact, with any menu item that has a sauce, ask for the sauce on the side or hold the sauce altogether.

Read more about Eating Out

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