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By Cheryl Powell
Beacon Journal medical writer
Published on Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Think you're eating right when you eat out?
Think again.
Even some of the healthy-sounding options on restaurant menus can be loaded with saturated fat, sodium and other bad things.
Laura Jeffers, the outpatient clinical manager for nutrition therapy at the Cleveland Clinic, examined Northeast Ohio restaurants and compiled a list of worst foods in five categories.
Here are her findings:
• Worst starter: fried onion appetizer.
The total calories in this dish are greater than an entire day's intake for many healthy adults. And the sodium content is more than double the daily recommendation of 2,300 milligrams or less.
• Worst breakfast: pancakes stuffed with caramel and bananas.
This unhealthy start to the day contains 9 grams of bad-for-you trans fat and is loaded with calories, mostly from carbohydrates.
• Worst salad: taco salad.
The cheese and sour cream make this salad high in saturated fat. The dish has more sodium than the recommended daily intake and gets more than 60 percent of its calories from fat.
• Worst kids meal: macaroni and cheese.
Lots of cheeses, full-fat milk and butter can load up the calories in this kid-friendly dish at some restaurants.
• Worst ''healthy'' burger: turkey burger.
The turkey burger she tested has more than 1,000 calories in just the burger.
''All the worst foods that were listed could be made healthier by using alternative foods, [such as] light butter or imitation butter, skim milk, light cheese, fat-free/low-fat options or products, decreased oil, decreased sodium, decreased portion.''
Tips for prom
With prom season here, parents of area teens undoubtedly are spending some sleepless nights worrying about their sons and daughters.
Risky behaviors — particularly drinking and driving — could tragically turn a magical night into a nightmare.
''No matter how strong the relationship is between a parent and child, many parents are still unaware of the choices teens face each day,'' said Karen Mascolo, a registered nurse and director of school health services at Akron Children's Hospital. ''For parents to successfully reach
their teens, they need to approach safety issues in more direct ways.''
The experts at Akron Children's Hospital shared these tips for keeping their teenage children safe on prom night:
• Talk to teens about their prom plans and how to deal with situations that could arise at parties.
• Prepare your child for peer pressure. Brainstorm some ways to say ''no.''
• Give teens the unconditional option of calling home at any time for advice or help, including picking them up without any questions until the morning.
• If your teen will be riding in a limo, make sure it does not allow underage drinking or drug use.
• Set a curfew based on past behavior, but be reasonable.
• Make sure you can reach your child at all times. (Get an itinerary for the evening and several phone numbers.)
• Don't allow teens to attend hotel room parties.
• Find out ahead of time who will be chaperoning the prom and after-parties.
• Remember that it's illegal for any adult to give alcohol or knowingly allow anyone under age 21 to drink alcohol, even at home.
Compiled by Akron Beacon Journal medical writer Cheryl Powell. She can be reached at 330-996-3902 or at chpowell@thebeaconjournal.com via e-mail.
Think you're eating right when you eat out?
Get the full article here.

