Best & Worst Theme Park Foods

Our picks for the worst snacks to score at the amusement park, plus a few better-for-you alternatives.
Fairground // © Chris Butler/Aurora/Getty Images
By Sally Wadyka for MSN Health & Fitness
It's easy to turn a day at the park into a carnival of calories, thanks to the wide array of tempting—and fattening—foods for sale everywhere you turn. But with a little careful planning and smart selections, it's possible to limit the nutritional damage done. It's also worth remembering that a funnel cake at the fair is most likely a once-a-year indulgence. "If that's the case, there's nothing wrong with enjoying a not-so-healthy treat," says Tara Gidus, R.D., spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. "Better yet, exercise some portion control and split the treat a few ways." Here, our picks for the worst snacks to score at the amusement park, plus a few better-for-you alternatives.
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Sunday, November 29, 2009 10:44:40 AM
I totally agree with Sparkina.  The whole point of going to an amusement park is to have FUN.  To the majority of American kids today, eating junk at the amusement park is part of the fun.  No one's watching calories, sugar, additives and such so let the kids enjoy themselves.  As long as you're not giving them these foods on a daily basis, then I don't see what the problem is.  Yes, childhood obesity is a serious health factor in the U.S., but that's because kids sit on their butts all day, drinking soda, eating candy and nibbling on junk while playing video games.  So now is the responsibility of the snack vendors at the amusement parks to make sure that the kids are offered carrots, apples and celery?  As a dental health care professional, I think that this article makes too much out of nothing.  One or two visits a year to the amusement park is not going to make our kids fat, give them tooth decay or turn them into junk food addicts.  Let them enjoy themselves, then leave the healthy stuff up to the parents to provide at home.
Monday, November 16, 2009 4:44:30 AM

Listen, I happen to like nutritious foods. I think fruits and vegetables are quite tasty -- even carrots (crunchy -- sweet-- what's NOT to be tasty?) but CARROTS at an AMUSEMENT PARK? Give me a break! Yes, I do like nutritious foods but I like junk food as much as the next person and there is a time and a place for everything, and carnivals, fairs, and funparks are NOT the place to nibble carrot sticks when there's cotton candy and funnel cakes and caramel apples to be had. For most normal people, going to a fair or a funpark is a SPECIAL OCCASION, for crying in Manhattan. One order of cheese fries or a piece of a funnel cake or a spool of cotton candy on this SPECIAL OCCASION isn't going to make you burst out of your clothes or cause your teeth to rot out of your head or turn your arteries to concrete. It's what you do as a matter of routine hat really matters. If you handle food responsibly as a matter of routine, one day of indulgence on a SPECIAL OCCASION, on a SPECIAL OUTING, isn't going to hurt all that much. The people who really have somethnig to worry about are those who eat fast-food hamburgers as an EVERYDAY WORK LUNCH.

Saturday, November 07, 2009 12:05:56 PM
There is not an obesity problem in children because they eat a funnel cake 2 times a year at a park or local fair. We have an obesity problem because children don't exercise and they take in about 100o calories a day in juice/soda/ice tea products. Get rid of the juice, get them outside and go get a funnel cake
Wednesday, November 04, 2009 7:54:02 PM

moderation!! if I allow myself a small sugar rush once in a while, I am happier, and less apt to binge on a lot of junk food

Wednesday, November 04, 2009 2:27:36 PM
there is a reason that its called JUNK FOOD!!!!!
Wednesday, November 04, 2009 12:20:28 PM
Hey, if these truly are an occasional indulgence, that's fine; I'm the first to tell you that I love stuff like this once in a blue moon!  Eating corn dogs and funnel cakes a few times a year won't kill you, but unfortunately for many people these are more like diet staples than once-in-a-while treats.  Hmm...and so many people wonder why they're diabetic, their joints are shot, and they're always out of breath...
Wednesday, November 04, 2009 11:52:03 AM
I look at it like this.  I might go to 1 fair a year so if I want to fill up on junk food, which is the only reason why I go, it's my prerogative.  I'll NEVER give up funnel cake though!
Wednesday, November 04, 2009 10:51:59 AM
AHHHHHHH No more funnel cake! :)
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 8:57:43 AM

I agree with dcgar1.  Leave my junk food alone AND stay out of my life.

 

I take responsibility for everything and have no guilt.

 

Carnival junk food is DEEEEEEEEEEEEEELICIOUS!!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009 8:21:06 AM
funnel cakes west:
I may be wrong but I doubt that your business primarily operates in an amusement park where the cheapest, quickest creation is sold. Amusement park foods want to use the lowest-quality ingredients to save money and have their product to the customer in the shortest time possible to prevent complaints. They care only about the money, not the health of the consumer.Thumbs down
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