By HILARY STOUT, Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, October 14, 2004; Page D6

Before (Dr. John La Puma’s patient) Ingrid Hugo had her first child nine years ago, she was fit and athletic. She ate oatmeal for breakfast, rarely touched red meat and ice cream, and steered clear of bread.

But after her second child was born in 1998, the Carpinteria, Calif., mom became so stressed and harried that breakfast became whatever was fast — “a bagel and cream cheese shoved in my mouth” — and lunch often came from Taco Bell or a sub shop as she rushed to volunteer at her daughter’s school. Then there was the birthday-party trap: pizza, cake and ice cream, intended for the kids but always offered up to willing parents.

The result: 30 extra pounds, fatigue and insomnia. “I look in the mirror and say, ‘Good Lord, what happened,’ ” says Ms. Hugo, who has lost some of the weight she gained but still has a ways to go.

Here are some particularly common culprits in the parental eating trap, according to John La Puma, a doctor and nutritionist in Santa Barbara, Calif., who specializes in obesity and the health complications that come from it.

French fries: 458 calories for a medium serving, 222 of them from fat. Trans fats, high calories, bad carbs.

Fruit juice: 90 calories, no fat, for a serving of pure apple or orange juice. It’s better than soda, goes the thinking of most parents. But so-called juice drinks that are only partly fruit are dreadful. Pure juice is better, but most nutritionists think pieces of fruit are a healthier choice.

To help stay healthy, keep flavored selzer water in the refrigerator rather than fruit juice, and he suggests always carrying a healthy and filling snack, like nuts or hard-boiled eggs, wherever you go.

Dr. La Puma says it’s important to draw clear lines: Never eat on the run; always sit down. And, throw away every morsel of food the kids left behind. “Parents say, ‘It’ll go to waste; I’ll drink it.’ That means you are a trash can,” he says. “You are more important than that. You are trying to protect your health so you will be around for your kids.”