Dietary Fat . . . Where Is It?

A diet that is low in fat is a good choice for fitness and good health. But which foods are high in fat? How much fat should your diet contain? Current research indicates that no more than 30 percent of the calories you eat in one day should come from fat. What does that mean? To help you find out, complete the activity below.

Here's what one teen ate in a day:

This lesson meets Illinois State Goals 10 and 24.

Using a nutritive value of foods booklet or nutritional analysis chart from fast food restaurants, complete the table below. Find the number of calories and the grams of fat in each food. Then calculate the number of teaspoons of fat. One teaspoon of fat is equal to 4 grams. To find the number of teaspoons of fat, divide the number of grams by 4. Assume:

After completing the table, answer these questions:

• How many calories did the menu contain?
• How many grams of fat were in the menu?
• In the original menu what percentage of calories was from fat? (Hint: Each gram of fat contains 9 calories. Multiply the total grams of fat by 9 to get the number of calories from fat. [Fat calories + total calories] x 100 = percent of fat.)
• In the altered menu what percentage of calories was from fat?
• Think about what you usually eat. List some changes you could make in your daily food intake to reduce the amount of fat. Teens' diets are often low in calcium, iron and vitamin A. List foods you like that are low in fat and rich in these nutrients.

Adapted from Nutrition for Life Grades 9-12. Developed by the Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, 1988.