Nutrition

Web Quest Page:

Fast Food Choices...

You Are What You Eat!

Created by:
Skip Rogers
Rowland Unified School District, Rowland Heights, California

URL: http://www.can-do.com/uci/lessons98/Nutrition.html

Suggested Grade Level: 5th-8th -High School with extension

So you've got the munchies... you take a hike (or your bike) to the nearest fast food joint to feed your need. Just what are you getting with your burger and fries? Usually more than you bargained for in fat! How do you please your taste buds but still keep your arteries clear and your bathroom scale from groaning when you walk by?

OK, how much fat can I get away with?

On the average, Americans eat a diet in which about 36 percent of the calories come from fat. This is too high for good health for some people. The Dietary Guidelines suggest a goal of 30 percent or less of total calories from fat. They also suggest limiting saturated fatty acids to less than 10 percent of calories.

In a diet with daily calories of...	Which is about right for...	The grams of total fat shown provide 30% of calories	The grams of saturated fatty acids shown provide 10% of calories
1,600	Sedentary women, young children, and some older adults	53	18
2,200	Most children, teenage girls, active women, women who are pregnant or breast feeding, and many sedentary men.	73	24
2,800	Teenage boys, many active men, and some very active women	93	31

Read the questions below. Click on the fast food links below the questions to find information on the nutritional value of your fave fast food. Finding the answers will help you juggle your choices and munch out with a clear conscience!

1. Well, what's the largest amount of saturated fat that should be in my food each day? Based on the chart above, how many total grams of saturated fat should be in the food you eat per day? _______	2. Can I live it up on the weekends and go easy during the week? Multiply your answer from question 1 by 7: _____________ That's the "max" of saturated fat you should average a week. Some days you can have more, if you cut back on other days.
3. How many McDonald's fries can you munch? How many saturated fat grams are in a large order of McDonald's fries? _________ How many fat grams are in a Big Mac? _________ What is the total? _________ Is this a good choice to eat every day? _________	4. Will a Taco Bell Gordita make you gordo (fat)? How many saturated fat grams are in 1 Santa Fe beef Gordita? ___________ How many saturated fat grams are in a Burrito Supreme? ___________ What's a healthier choice? ___________
5. Wolfing down a Wendy's meal... How many saturated fat grams are in a Chicken Caesar Pita Sandwich? ____________ How many fat calories are in the Big Bacon Classic hamburger? ____________ What's a healthier choice? ____________	6. Livin' Large at Jack's! If you get a Jumbo Jack combo, how many saturated fat grams are there altogether? (Add the Jumbo Jack and the fries together): ___________ Is this a good choice to eat every day? ___________

Search for McDonald's Nutritional Informatation	Search for Taco Bell's Nutritional Information
Search for Wendy's Nutritional Information	Search Jack In the Box's Nutritional Information

Do the foods you eat provide more fat than is good for you? Answer the questions below, then see how your diet stacks up.

How often do you eat... seldom/never sometimes often always

1. fried, deep-fat-fried, or breaded foods? (like french fries)

2. fatty meats such as sausage, luncheon meats, or heavily marbled steaks and roasts?

3. whole milk, regular, hard cheeses, or ice cream?

4. high-fat desserts such as pies, pastries, or rich cakes?

5. rich sauces or gravies or regular salad dressings?

6. breads with lots of fat such as croissants or rich muffins?

7. whipped cream, table cream, sour cream, or cream cheese?

8. butter or margarine on vegetables, dinner rolls, or toast?

Take a look at your answers. If you have three or more responses in the last two columns, this indicates that you may have a high fat intake. You can cut back on the amount you eat as well as the number of times you eat fatty foods.

Need to find more information? Clicking on any of the links below will open a search engine to find all kinds of info on the Web. Consider using key words like nutrition and fast food, or just try typing in your favorite restaurant with a .com after it, like deltaco.com. Here's to happy searching, and healthy eating!

Alta Vista	Google	Search Engine Colossus
All the Web	Hotbot	Webcrawler
Apple Learning Exchange	Lycos	Wisenut
Dogpile	Microsoft Education - Lesson Plans	Yahoo
Excite	Search.com	Yahooligans

This Web Quest Address is:

http://www.can-do.com/uci/lessons98/

Email: srog2000@earthlink.net (Skip Rogers)

For a printable worksheet, click here

The "Mozilla" lizard is the official mascot of Netscape. These icons (and more) can be found on Netscape's homepage at http://www.mozilla.org. The "father" of the mozilla icons is Dave Titus. (Clicking on the "Painter Mozilla" will take you to a page with Mozilla icons.)

The Fat Chart and Fat Questionnaire are by Dr. Barbara P. McLaurin, Extension Human Nutrition Specialist, Department of Home Economics at Mississippi State University, and can be found here.

All McDonald's images are © McDonald's Corporation. All rights reserved. All TACO BELL® logos, including the "Yo Quiero Taco Bell" Chihuahua, are © Pepsico. All rights reserved. Any Wendy’s images are © Wendy’s International, Inc. All rights reserved. Any Jack in the Box images are © Foodmaker Inc. All rights reserved.

Created August 12th, 1998
Revised November 30, 2003


How often do you eat...	seldom/never	sometimes	often	always
1. fried, deep-fat-fried, or breaded foods? (like french fries)
2. fatty meats such as sausage, luncheon meats, or heavily marbled steaks and roasts?
3. whole milk, regular, hard cheeses, or ice cream?
4. high-fat desserts such as pies, pastries, or rich cakes?
5. rich sauces or gravies or regular salad dressings?
6. breads with lots of fat such as croissants or rich muffins?
7. whipped cream, table cream, sour cream, or cream cheese?
8. butter or margarine on vegetables, dinner rolls, or toast?