America’s favorite past time is well underway. The fans are excited and the sun is shinning. Let’s take a moment though to talk about America’s second favorite past time, eating. Also known as stuffing your face until your stomach is ready to explode and you thoroughly hate yourself. As any fan knows, sporting arenas offer up a bevy of choices to gorge one’s self. While delicious, these meals are far from nutritious. They can deplete your wallet and expand up your waist.
If you heed the advice of the classic baseball song, “Take me out to The Ball Game,” you may find yourself indulging on peanuts and crackerjacks. Peanuts in their own right are not necessarily unhealthy. A 1-ounce serving of Planters Original Peanuts provides a good source of protein, it’s low in sodium, and only has 120 calories. However, this is only true if you consume a 1-ounce serving. Since these bags can come in 6-ounce sizes or even higher, you could easily find yourself finishing a whole bag and looking at 720 plus calories. The calorie count is similar for peanuts in the shell. A bag of Cracker Jacks contains 120 calories.
For the over 21 crowd, you may find yourself having a drink or 2, or 3, or 4.…. What just happened to the last 5 innings. With so many varieties you can expect a lot of variation in calories. For a 12-ounce Budweiser, you would be gulping down 145 calories. A Bud light is slightly less, with 110. A Sierra Nevada Bigfoot on the other hand offers up a whooping 330 calories. Again, this is only for a 12-ounce beer. Many stadiums sell 16-ounce or even 32-ounce beers. Here is a link to compare some of your favorite beers.
Lets not forget a classic staple, the hotdog. As American as baseball itself, this processed dish evokes images of summer fun, fireworks, and BBQ’s. A plain hotdog has about 250 calories. Make it a chili cheese dog and you more than double that amount to around 600 calories.
To recap, if you go to a game, get a regular hotdog with ketchup, a 16-ounce Bud Light, and a bag of Cracker Jacks, you will be eating close to 550 calories. According to the USDA, the average daily calorie needs for an 18 to 60 year old man ranges from 2,200 to 2,800 calories. For women, the range is 1,800 to 2,400 calories. These ranges account for variations in age and activity levels from a sedentary to a moderately active lifestyle*. This brief foray into ballpark nutrition doesn’t even begin to touch upon other key dietary considerations such as sodium and saturated fats. You can probably already guess that most of the foods mentioned here don’t fair too well in these categories. Below is a table of some other popular baseball snack options.
| Food | Calories |
| Chili Cheese Fries | 629 |
| Corn Dog | 380 |
| Cotton Candy | 220 |
| Nachos | 595 |
| Soft Pretzel | 340 |
| Sausage and Pepper sub | 859 |
*The USDA describes a sedentary lifestyle as one where your only source of physical activity is typical day to day activities. A moderately active lifestyle includes the physical activities from day to day living plus a physical activity equivalent that amounts to 1.5 to 3 miles per day. For woman these ranges don’t take into account breast feeding or being pregnant.
Sources
- Fantozzi , J. (2015, June 18). How Many Calories Are in Your Ballpark Snacks? from How Many Calories Are in Your Ballpark Snacks? Retrieved April 18, 2017, from http://www.thedailymeal.com/entertain/how-many-calories-are-your-ballpark-snacks-0/slide-1)
- Sortable Beer Calories, ABV, Efficiency Table. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2017, from http://www.efficientdrinker.com/beer/complete-calories-abv.html
- USDA Food Patterns. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2017, from https://www.cnpp.usda.gov/USDAFoodPatterns
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