CALORIES
Are Calories Bad for You?
Calories aren't bad for you. Your body needs calories for energy. But eating
too many calories — and not burning enough of them off through activity — can
lead to weight gain.
Most foods and drinks contain calories. Some foods, such as lettuce, contain
few calories (1 cup of shredded lettuce has less than 10 calories). Other foods,
like peanuts, contain a lot of calories (½ cup of peanuts has 427 calories).
You can find out how many calories are in a food by looking at the nutrition
facts label. The label also will describe the components of the food — how many
grams of carbohydrate, protein, and fat it contains.
Here's how many calories are in 1 gram of each:
That means if you know how many grams of each one are in a food, you can
calculate the total calories. You would multiply the number of grams by the
number of calories in a gram of that food component. For example, if a serving
of potato chips (about 20 chips) has 10 grams of fat, 90 calories are from fat.
That's 10 grams x 9 calories per gram.
Some people watch their calories if they are trying to lose weight. Most kids
don't need to do this, but all kids can benefit from eating a healthy, balanced
diet that includes the right number of calories — not too many, not too few. But
how do you know how many calories you need?
Calories aren't bad for you. Your body needs calories for energy. But eating
too many calories — and not burning enough of them off through activity — can
lead to weight gain.
Most foods and drinks contain calories. Some foods, such as lettuce, contain
few calories (1 cup of shredded lettuce has less than 10 calories). Other foods,
like peanuts, contain a lot of calories (½ cup of peanuts has 427 calories).
You can find out how many calories are in a food by looking at the nutrition
facts label. The label also will describe the components of the food — how many
grams of carbohydrate, protein, and fat it contains.
Here's how many calories are in 1 gram of each:
- carbohydrate — 4 calories
- protein — 4 calories
- fat — 9 calories
That means if you know how many grams of each one are in a food, you can
calculate the total calories. You would multiply the number of grams by the
number of calories in a gram of that food component. For example, if a serving
of potato chips (about 20 chips) has 10 grams of fat, 90 calories are from fat.
That's 10 grams x 9 calories per gram.
Some people watch their calories if they are trying to lose weight. Most kids
don't need to do this, but all kids can benefit from eating a healthy, balanced
diet that includes the right number of calories — not too many, not too few. But
how do you know how many calories you need?