Healthy eating on the run, in the air has gotten easier

Office parties, holiday meals and sugary treats threaten to broaden the waistline of even the most disciplined business traveler. Add the strain of traipsing through holiday crowds at airports and it’s a sure recipe for diet disaster.

Between the stress of travel and the sense that all hope for dieting is on hold until the New Year’s resolution, travelers are even more tempted than usual to partake in airport food that they would otherwise shun.

Take that McDonald’s quarter pounder with cheese that you wouldn’t touch outside an airport terminal. You find yourself wolfing it down only because it is so convenient and seductive as you hurry to your plane. After all, you never know when the next time you will have a chance to eat something.

But with a little planning, it need not be so.

“Think about eating healthy before you leave your home,” said Charles Stuart Platkin, a nutrition and public health advocate and author and founder of the website DietDetective.com.

Just thinking about healthy eating before you hit the road can be enough to change poor eating habits, Platkin said. And the good news is there are more healthful options at airports and onboard planes than ever before.

Few tears were shed over the demise of the hot meal served onboard domestic flights. The meals were generally unappetizing and high in calories, as many as 1,500 per meal, according to a study on airline food by Platkin. But we ate them because we had no choice.

“Airlines have you captive,” Platkin said. “They have an obligation to give us more choices.”

Now that airlines are charging for meals, the quality of the food has gone up and the number of calories has come down.

Platkin surveyed the snack box offerings of six U.S. airlines -- American, Continental, Delta, JetBlue, United and US Airways -- and counted calories and rated the meals. In the interest of science, he tasted every one of the offerings. He even calculated the amount of time it would take to walk off the calories of each option.

United won top honors in the survey. It offers four different snack boxes that range in calories from 580 for a Ritebite to 895 for a Smartpack. Platkin calculates that it would take 231 minutes to walk off a Smartpack and 149 minutes for the Ritebite. To walk off an average-size holiday meal would take about 7 1/2 hours, Platkin said.

“I think the airlines are learning that this is a real business where before it was a loss for them,” he said. “It can be a profit center.”

The snacks are typically $5 or less, though they are free on Continental and JetBlue.

Not all airlines seem to be getting the message, however. Last-ranked Delta, the only airline in the survey that is in bankruptcy protection, offers one choice for $4. Platkin said that even at 766 calories it would leave you hungry.

For the complete results of the survey, visit www.dietdetective.com and type in “Airline Snacks” in the search bar.

Even airport restaurants seem to be getting the healthy-eating option message, according to a recent survey of airports by the Physician Committee for Responsible Medicine, a Washington-based nonprofit education and animal rights advocacy group that promotes vegetarian diets.

It surveyed restaurants at 13 of the nation’s busiest airports, including Los Angeles International Airport, for the availability of “healthful entrees.” A restaurant was rated as healthful if it served at least a breakfast, lunch or dinner entree that was low in fat, high in fiber and vegetarian. A salad counted only if it was a meal-size portion, not a side salad. Snack kiosks were not surveyed.

The group found that healthy options increased over last year at 11 of the 12 airports evaluated. First place went to Orlando International Airport, with 97% of its restaurants offering healthful entrees. Contrary to our tofu-and-bean-sprout-eating image, LAX tied for eighth place with Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport with 84%. It was an improvement over last year, however, when LAX came in at 69%.

“There’s more demand for certain types of food,” said Susan Levin, a registered dietitian and the main author of the report. “People want healthier stuff.”

Another option for travelers is to bring their own food. But that requires planning, something that business travelers do well for every other aspect of a business trip.

We remember to bring business cards, PowerPoint presentations, charts, underwear, socks -- but planning food isn’t on our radar, Platkin said. That three-hour flight, when factoring in driving to and from the airport, security lines and any plane delays, could easily turn into a six-hour ordeal. We fail to plan for that and can get hungry.

Platkin recommends packing a piece of fruit, a baggie of Cheerios or for those on Atkins diets, some beef jerky. They still pass muster under current security guidelines.

“The big thing here is going in with the right mind-set,” Platkin said. “Just because you’re under stress it’s not an excuse to give up your dietary concerns.”

jim@businessitinerary.com