What's in your cinema snack?

Star style! reveals what you’re really doing to your bod at the box office...

Popcorn
Though plain popcorn is relatively low in fat and calories, and high in fibre (it’s part of most supermodels’ staple diets), when you add the lashings of butter and sugar that is heaped on to your cinema popcorn, not to mention the fact that it is kept warm in oil, it’s not quite so healthy a snack!

Large plain popcorn 500-600 calories; 18g of fat

Large buttered popcorn 800-1,000 calories; 32g of fat

Verdict: Stick to plain

Cheesy nachos
As you can probably tell from their radioactive colour, cheese-laden nachos are loaded with fat and calories. Each dollop of cheese contains 200 calories and 15 grams of fat – and that’s not even counting the cooked-in-fat nachos. A better savoury snack are pretzels at just 155 cals for a small bag.

Nachos with cheese 700-900 calories; 56g of fat

Verdict: Pick pretzels instead

Hot dogs
Like most fast food, hot dogs are high in sugar and fat, but they aren’t actually as calorific as you might think. The sausage is high in saturated fat, but it will fill you up enough to avoid munching on other cinema shop temptations.

Hot dog with ketchup 300 calories; 15g of fat

Verdict: Not bad for an occasional cinematic indulgence

Pick ‘n’ mix
Filling up on a small bag of sweeties can be relatively low-cal – provided you choose the right ones. Avoid chocolate eclairs and fudges at 30+ calories per sweet and stick to a small bag of jelly beans or fruit jellies. But be warned, all the goodies are high in sugar, so don’t fill your bag to the top!

100g bag of jellies 360 calories

Verdict: Avoid chocolate, toffee and fudges

Cola
As supersize fever sweeps the UAE, a large cinema cola now weighs in at about one litre (three cans!). While diet variations will cut down your sugar intake, a healthier option is flavoured mineral water or unsweetened fruit juice.