Most frozen treats will not melt your waistline

Frozen treats provide welcome relief from summer heat. Here is some information to help you choose the healthiest options.

Baskin-Robbins Rocky Road

ice cream vs. French Vanilla

ice cream

At 580 calories per cup (two scoops), the Rocky Road is richer than the French Vanilla, but only by 20 calories. Most Baskin-Robbins ice creams (www.baskinrobbins.com/nutrition) range from 240 calories to 320 calories per half cup, with Peanut Butter 'n Chocolate ice cream coming in at the high end. Keep in mind that most of the serving sizes listed on supermarket ice creams are a half cup; however, most people eat at least 1 to 1 ½ cups — that's about 500-750 calories.

Dairy Queen Blizzard vs. Sundae vs. Baskin-Robbins banana split

The medium sundae at Dairy Queen (www.dairyqueen.com) has 410 calories, whereas a medium Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard is 790 calories. You think that's high? The medium Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard is 1,030 calories. A Banana Split Sundae at Baskin-Robbins is 1,030 calories for 20 ounces.

Dairy Queen vanilla soft-serve vs. TCBY soft-serve creamy frozen yogurt (96 percent fat-free)

TCBY (www.tcby.com/nutrition.asp) serves 7 ounces at about 240 calories, the same as a small DQ cone. Dairy Queen is famous for those chocolate-dipped cones, but if you go for a large, that's 670 calories; a medium is 490 calories.

The good news is that TCBY offers a 4-ounce nonfat soft-serve version for 193 calories. If you go with the TCBY Butter Pecan Perfection Hand-Scooped Frozen Yogurt, a ½-cup serving is 110 calories. Dairy Queen also offers low-calorie treats like the 50-calorie DQ Fudge Bar with no sugar added (about 2 ½ ounces) and the Dairy Queen Vanilla Orange Bar — also with no sugar added — at 60 calories.

Häagen-Dazs Vanilla & Almonds ice cream bars vs. Good Humor Candy Center Crunch vs. Klondike Bar

The Häagen-Dazs (www.haagen-dazs.com) is 320 calories, but most bars are high in calories, including the Starbucks Mud Pie Ice Cream Bar (350 calories for 3 ¼ ounces) and the Dove Dark Chocolate with Vanilla Ice Cream Bar (320 calories for 2 ¾ ounces). The 4-ounce Good Humor Candy Center Crunch (www.icecreamusa.com/good_humor) is 310 calories. An Original Vanilla Klondike bar is 250 calories for 4.5 ounces. A Good Humor Chocolate Éclair bar might be your best bet at 220 calories.

Edy's/Dryer's Berry Rainbow Sherbet vs. Ciao Bella Vanilla Gelato vs. Italian ices

Sherbet (made with milk, fruit or fruit juice; stabilizers; and sweeteners) is typically lower in calories than ice cream. The Berry Rainbow Sherbet is 130 calories per ½ cup, and the Baskin-Robbins Wild 'N Reckless Sherbet is 160 calories per ½ cup.

Gelato is Italian ice cream served in a semi-frozen state, made mostly with milk (not cream), so it can sometimes be lower in calories than premium ice cream. For instance, Old-fashioned Cream Gelato from a famed Italian gelato maker, Grom (www.grom.it), has 215 calories for a small (½ cup). Ciao Bella (www.ciaobellagelato.com) Vanilla Gelato is 210 calories for ½ cup. Italian ices are probably your best bet at only 50 calories per ½ cup.

Ben & Jerry's Berried Treasure Sorbet vs. Chocolate Fudge Brownie Low-Fat Frozen Yogurt vs. Chocolate Fudge Brownie Body & Soul

Sorbet, one of the lower-calorie frozen treats on the market, is similar to sherbet (often using fruit) but contains no dairy. Half a cup of the Ben & Jerry's (www.benandjerrys.com) Sorbet is 110 calories, whereas the low-fat frozen yogurt is 190 calories (still better than ice cream). In Body & Soul, Ben & Jerry's low-calorie line, the Chocolate Fudge Brownie is 180 calories per ½ cup.

Some of the best sorbets are Häagen-Dazs, which have 120-130 calories per ½ cup, including the fantastic Brazilian Açai Berry Sorbet.

Starbucks Classic Coffee Ice Cream vs. Ben & Jerry's Organic Vanilla vs. Häagen-Dazs Light Dulce de Leche Ice Cream

At 230 calories per ½ cup, the Starbucks is actually lower in calories than other premium ice creams. Häagen-Dazs Light Dulce de Leche Ice Cream has 220 calories for the same amount, even though it's "light." Surprisingly, all the flavors in Ben & Jerry's organic line, at 240 calories per ½ cup, are lower than most of its regular ice creams.

Skinny Cow Fudge Bars vs. Original Fudgsicle vs. Popsicle

The Fudgsicle is only 100 calories per 2.5-ounce bar, and it also comes in a smaller size, which means fewer calories (60 for 1.65 ounces). That's really a Calorie Bargain. The Skinny Cow Fudge Bars (www.skinnycow.com) are also 100 calories.

Get this: A classic Popsicle has only 45 calories in 1.65 ounces. A Creamsicle has 70 calories. And fruit bars are typically about 80 calories per bar — just make sure they have real fruit. PhillySwirl (www.phillyswirl.com) has a number of great-tasting, low-calorie products, including the Phudge Sundae and the Fudge Swirl Stix — 57 calories each.

Good Humor Ice Cream Sandwich vs. Toll House Cookie Sandwich

Good Humor's Ice Cream Sandwich (the 3-ounce version) is only 130 calories — great because it's portion controlled, which makes it a real Calorie Bargain. The worst of all these is the Nestlé Toll House Cookie Sandwich — two cookies with ice cream in the middle — costing 540 calories. The DQ Sandwich is 190 calories. The best bet is Skinny Cow's round sandwiches (vanilla ice cream between two big chocolate wafers), which are 140 calories.

Charles Stuart Platkin is a nutrition and public health advocate, author of "The Diet Detective's Count Down" (Simon & Schuster, 2007).