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Fast Food for Kids Is Worse Than You Think

by Elise Nersesian (Subscribe to Elise Nersesian's posts)
Feb 4th 2009 8:00AM

5Comments

Filed under: Nutrition: Toddlers & Preschoolers, Nutrition: Big Kids, Nutrition: Tweens, Nutrition: Teens

hamburgerYou may only allow your kids to indulge in a burger and fries on very special occasions, but according to the results of a new study conduced by Michigan State University and Baylor College of Medicine, you may want to give the Happy Meal the boot-for good.

Here's why: When researchers analyzed each meal for items like total energy, fat, sodium, carbohydrates, dietary fiber, added sugars, protein, calcium, iron and vitamins A and C, they found only three percent of kids' meals offered at fast food restaurants met federal dietary guidelines for nutrient quality.

What?!

So here's the dirt:
  • Chicken-based meal combos accounted for 51% of the meals that did not met the guidelines. Many of those meals were fried.
  • 28 percent of meals that didn't meet the guidelines were burger-based.
  • While most meals contained adequate protein, more than one-half exceeded recommendations for sodium.
  • Average iron and fiber from kids' meal combos were low and most meal options didn't include whole grains.
  • Lunches that met all the criteria offered a side of fruit and milk and were mostly deli-sandwich-based. They also contained about one-third the fat, one-sixth the added sugars, twice the iron and three times the amount of vitamin A and calcium as those meals that did not meet the criteria.
  • Bean burrito meals contained high amounts of fiber and deli-sandwiches with cheese, fruit and milk were high in calcium.
  • In case you're wondering, Arby's, Burger King, Chick-fil-A, KFC, McDonald's, Sonic, Subway, Taco Bell, Wendy's, and Whataburger in the Houston, Texas market were included in the study.
This past fall, Burger King limited the sodium in their kids' meals to 600 milligrams or less, and boosted their calcium, potassium, fiber, magnesium and vitamin E in all their meals-and many of their items still didn't make the cut. Does this study make you re-think your kid's favorite dinner spot?

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