by Kimberly Mayo-Achan MA, CCC-SLP

In today’s fast paced society, people are encouraged to live efficiently and take advantage of all of the modern technologies and short cuts that are now available to give us more “productive” time in a day. Whether that short cut be sending an e-mail instead of a letter through the postal system or getting information through the internet instead of reading hard copy books, almost all of us take advantage of them because we have fallen away from waiting for something to get done. And gone are the days where a family has time to sit down together for a home cooked meal, because both parents are working and have the convenience of a microwave.

Pre-packaged and frozen dinners have become the norm for many families today. More likely than not, if you have a grandparent make you dinner, everything will be freshly prepared and cooked in their own kitchen on, believe it or not, the stove or in the oven! But, since the invention of the microwave, in addition to the stress of having to work full time jobs, it is easier and more time efficient to pop a premade dinner into the microwave, which can mean more time together at the table for some families. If you are a “frozen-food fanatic”, then at least make sure meal time is a healthy time. It is very important for families to gather together at meal time, but this does not mean it is ok to place just anything on the table.

Consumer reports magazine has just released a study evaluating dietary value and information on 22 different types of frozen and pre-packaged brands of food. They evaluated these brands based on cost, taste and nutrition. The findings, while not very impressive, were very interesting, as all three criteria showed a considerable improvement from previous studies. Almost half of these meals provided 5 grams or more of fiber per serving, and 6 out of the 22 provided 20% of the recommended daily intake of calcium. On the contrary, the majority of these meals had over 600 milligrams of sodium, while only 3 had less than 450 per meal. It was also found that many of these “meals” were not, in fact, entire meals in itself. In order to obtain adequate nutrition, servings of fruits and vegetables need to be added to each meal to make them complete.

The overall conclusions were that there are sensible prepared meals to serve to your family, with Kashi being the clear front runner. However, frozen and pre-packaged dinners should not take the place of fresh, home cooked food every day of the week. These meals are highly processed and often contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, which is known to have a negative effect on the cardiovascular system. It is better to make a few meals over the weekend and freeze your own foods for the upcoming week.

The bottom line is to try to find other ways during the day to make the most out of your time so that you have a few extra minutes to prepare a healthy meal. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but it doesn’t have to come in a package either.

For the full report on packaged meals, you can subscribe to ConsumerReportsHealth.org or log onto http://www.walletpop.com/consumer-reports/insurance/article/consumer-reports-packaged-diet-meal/847476?icid=main|search3|dl4|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.walletpop.com%2Fconsumer-reports%2Finsurance%2Farticle%2Fconsumer-reports-packaged-diet-meal%2F847476 for an abbreviated version of the study.