Reading a food label is kind of like reading the table of contents in a book: it tells you what's in the food you're eating. It's important to begin early to teach your children how to select foods by reading the label. Things to point out include:

• Calories are units of energy a food contains. If you're trying to lose weight, you need to take in fewer calories than you expend in activity. Calories are listed per serving, and often broken into "total calories" and "calories from fat."
• Nutrients are essential elements that your body needs to function. Some of the nutrients listed on food labels are protein, carbohydrate, fats, minerals and vitamins. Nutrients are generally listed as the percentage of what is needed per day based upon a 2000-calorie diet.
• Serving Size is the portion that is considered a single serving, such as 10 pretzels or 1 cup. This is important when looking at calories. If you've eaten 20 pretzels and the serving size is listed as 10, then you need to double the amount of nutrients - and calories listed per serving.

When looking at labels, look for foods containing beneficial ingredients, such as calcium, iron and fiber. And avoid or limit those foods containing a large amount of ingredients associated with health problems, such as saturated or trans fat, cholesterol and sodium.