Foods that are nutritional zeros are typically high in calories ,sugar,fat,making them pretty easy to spot. Topping the list of kid's junk food favorites :soda,candy and chips.

What you can do

If your child is constantly reaching for junk food, you need to keep healthier foods within his reach. Kids love finger foods and they love to nibble, says Melvin Heyman, co-author of Feeding Your Child for Lifelong Health (Bantam, August 1999), so serve melon cubes with yogurt dip or red pepper and zucchini strips with hummus. Make fruit smoothies with frozen or fresh blueberries, strawberries, bananas, yogurt, milk, or ice cream.

Since less variety is less appealing, consider buying only one kind of cookies or chips. If your child is really hooked on the bad stuff, try weaning him off of it slowly by offering similar — but healthier — substitutions. For instance, instead of dishing up ice cream every night, offer him low-fat ice cream, frozen yogurt, or sorbet. Forbidding a food can make matters worse, says Janis Jibrin R.D. "You can't expect a child to accept fruit when she really wants a piece of chocolate," she says. Jibrin suggests doling the treat out in small quantities. Replace salty, high-fat chips with pretzels or baked tortilla chips. Eventually he'll come to expect the healthier alternatives.