From Your Health Journal…..”I wanted to promote an article I found on the MedCity News web site by Diane Bartz entitled Kids fast food options are awful. According to a recent study, the menus offered to children by most U.S. restaurant chains have too many calories, too much salt or fat, and often not a hint of vegetables or fruit. As we know, childhood obesity is on the rise all over the world, although there has been some positive news from First Lady Michelle Obama that some larger cities has shown a slight reduction in the waistlines of children. But, obesity related disease is up – heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, asthma, and weak joints. Many fast food chains are starting to offer what they call ‘healthier’ selections, but the problem, they appeal more to adults, not children. In our modern day era, many children in poor neighborhoods are subjected to eating many of these unhealthy choices. Please visit the MedCity News web page (link provided below) to read the complete article.”
From the article…..
The menus offered to children by most U.S. restaurant chains have too many calories, too much salt or fat, and often not a hint of vegetables or fruit, according to a study by the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
The group, which has agitated for everything from healthier popcorn at the movies to calorie labeling in supermarkets, found that among almost 3,500 combinations surveyed, kids’ meals failed to meet nutritional standards 97 percent of the time.
That was a marginal improvement over 2008 when such meals failed to meet standards 99 percent of the time.
Every children’s meal offered at popular chains such as Chipotle Mexican Grill, Dairy Queen, Hardee’s, McDonald’s, Panda Express, Perkins Family Restaurants and Popeyes fell short of standards adopted by the center from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s nutritional recommendations.
The meals also fell short of standards set by the National Restaurant Association’s Kids LiveWell Program, said the CSPI, which titled its study, “Kids’ Meals: Obesity on the Menu.”
“Most chains seem stuck in a time warp, serving up the same old meals based on chicken nuggets, burgers, macaroni and cheese, fries, and soda,” said Margo Wootan, CSPI nutrition policy director. “It’s like the restaurant industry didn’t get the memo that there’s a childhood obesity crisis.”
Among the meals singled out was Applebees’ grilled cheese sandwich on sourdough bread, fries and two percent chocolate milk, which has 1,210 calories, 62 grams of fat and 2,340 milligrams of sodium.
The combo meal had nearly three times as many calories as the CSPI’s criteria for four- to- eight-year-olds suggest.
At Ruby Tuesday, the macaroni and cheese, white cheddar mashed potatoes and fruit punch combo has 870 calories, 46 grams of fat and 1700 milligrams of sodium, said Wootan.
To read the complete article…..Click here
