Diet and Health

Obesity is a complex health issue with a wide variety of contributing factors, including excess calorie consumption, sedentary lifestyles, lack of exercise and time pressures on both families and individuals.

It is important to remember that candy and chocolate are treats, snacks or desserts. The key to maintaining a balanced diet and appropriate weight with confections, as with all foods, is to consume them in moderation, as part of an active lifestyle.

With confectionery contributing less than two percent of the average child's and adult's daily calories, we think most consumers already understand that confectionery can add a great deal of enjoyment without being a major source of calories.

However, the confectionery industry does work to provide consumers with the information they need to understand the role of confectionery in the diet, while offering a variety of options to choose the confectionery products best suited to individual lifestyles and needs. Examples include small, “snack-size,” or “bite-size” confections as well as low-fat, non-fat and sugar-free products.

We also understand that it is important for consumers to have all the information they need to make decisions about the foods eat. That's why nutrition labeling appears on all packaged candy products.

Finally, as members of the food industry, we have an important role to play in helping people recognize the contribution of diet and activity to consumers’ health and well-being. One important initiative involves working with the American Academy of Family Physicians’ Foundation on a brochure to help parents talk with children about healthy eating, A Parent’s Guide to Talking to Your Children about Diet and Nutrition. Organizations such as the Boys and Girls Clubs, the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and the National Association of Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) use the brochure as a resource for parents, teachers and community healthy and wellness programs.

Want more specific help on how candy can fit into your lifestyle? Take a look at Treat Smarts: A Guide to Nutrition and Activity, which provides easy-to-use guidance for parents on nutritional information for popular kinds of candy, activities to keep the family healthy and interactive ways to make mealtime fun.

Here are some other resources you may find helpful:

• USDA's MyPyramid.gov helps determine how much of what variety of foods you or your children need
• Putting Sugars into Perspective - an overview on the role of sugar in the diet from the International Food Information Council
• Helping Overweight Kids is a Lifestyle Issue
• Research Seeks Link Between Diet and Headaches
• The Fat Factor
• Carbohydrates and Fitness

Nutrition Labeling

On November 14, 2006, FDA released two multimedia, interactive learning tools to help consumers use the Nutrition Facts label. The tools are Make Your Calories Count, an online learning program, and a new Nutrition Facts Label brochure.

Make Your Calories Count is designed to help consumers understand and use the nutrition facts label to plan a healthy diet while managing calorie intake. The program features an animated character called "Labelman" who leads the viewer through a series of exercises to help them understand what serving sizes, percentages, and daily values mean and how to use them. The Calories Count tool is posted at http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/labelman.

The Nutrition Facts Label brochure is targeted for use by consumers as well as health professionals to teach people how to make healthier food choices. The brochure describes how consumers can use the nutrition facts label as they shop and plan meals. The brochure includes information that will help consumers understand the relationship between calories and serving size, which may help them use the label to manage their intake of calories. The brochure is located at http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/lab-gen.html.

• Reading Nutrition Labels
• Nutrient Profiles of Selected Candy