But it's low in calories...

Oftentimes, I am asked about different products and if they are healthy or not. Would I feed them to my kids? And sometimes, someone will bring a product to me and say "But look, it's low in calories".

It's NOT all about the calories, friends.

Case in point, Kellogg's Rice Krispie treats, packaged in snack-size packages.

Serving size is 1 bar

[a small bar at that, I can see my teen eating several]


90 calories
2.5g fat
17g carbohydrate
less than 1g protein
105mg sodium

Okay, looks fairly good so far, not the best, but not overboard in any area, including calories or sodium. But let's take it a step farther and look at the ingredients. Yes, the actual ingredients:

TOASTED RICE CEREAL (RICE, SUGAR, SALT, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, MALT FLAVORING, NIACINAMIDE, REDUCED IRON, RIBOFLAVIN [VITAMIN B2], FOLIC ACID), MARSHMALLOW (CORN SYRUP, SUGAR, GELATIN, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR), FRUCTOSE, MARGARINE (VEGETABLE OIL [SOYBEAN, PALM, AND PALM KERNEL OIL WITH TBHQ FOR FRESHNESS], WATER, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL BUTTER FLAVOR [CONTAINS MILK], DATEM, ACETYLATED MONOGLYCERIDES, BHT [PRESERVATIVE], VITAMIN A PALMITATE, VITAMIN D), CORN SYRUP SOLIDS, CONTAINS TWO PERCENT OR LESS OF DEXTROSE, GLYCERIN, SALT, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6), THIAMIN HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B1), SOY LECITHIN.

Okay, I've highlighted some red flags for you. Just the most blatant ones. Sugar, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, sugar. Anything that ends in -ose [rhymes with "gross"] is a sugar substitute. It is processed. It is not natural. These are not healthy ingredients.

While at first glance, this may appear to be an all-right snack for your child, you cannot just look at calories anymore. You must look at the entire label, including the ingredients of foods. It's up to you as a parent to do so. Marketing and advertising will tell you differently. They tell you it is fun and good and satisfying. And it may well be. But you know better.