Nearly all of the meals offered to kids
at America's top chain restaurants are of poor nutritional quality.
Fried chicken fingers, burgers, French
fries, and sugar drinks continue to dominate the kids' meal offerings,
according to a report to by the Center for Science in the Public
Interest. The report found 97 percent of the nearly 3,500 meal possibilities didn’t
meet the center's nutrition criteria for four- to eight-year-olds.
In addition, the center said 91 percent
of kids' meals at America's major chains don’t meet the nutritional standards
of the National Restaurant Association’s Kids LiveWell program.
"One out of every three American
children is overweight or obese, but it's as if the chain restaurant industry
didn't get the memo," Margo G. Wootan, nutrition policy director for the
center, said. "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."
One chain with improvements is Subway,
according to the report.
All eight of Subway restaurants' Fresh
Fit for Kids meal combinations met the center’s nutrition criteria. Subway is
the only restaurant chain that doesn’t offer sugar drinks as an option with its
kids' meals, instead including low-fat milk or bottled water along with apple
slices with all of its kid-sized subs.
To meet the center's nutrition
criteria, kids' meals must not exceed: (1) 430 calories, (2) more than 35
percent of calories from fat, or (3) more than 10 percent of calories from
saturated plus trans fat.
Meals that meet the center’s criteria
can’t have more than 35 percent added sugars by weight or more than 770
milligrams of sodium. The criteria require meals to make a positive nutritional
contribution either by providing at least half a serving of fruit or vegetable,
including an item that is 51 percent or more whole grain, or including
specified levels of vitamins or fiber.
The center’s criteria exclude sugar
drinks in favor of water, juice, or low-fat milk. The association's standards are
similar, though they allow more calories.
Some of the least healthy kids' meals
available at chain restaurants include:
- Applebee's
Grilled Cheese on Sourdough with Fries and 2 Percent Chocolate Milk.
- Denny's
Jr. Cheeseburger and French Fries.
- Dairy
Queen's Chicken Strips, Kids' Fries, Sauce, Arctic Rush (a Slushee-type frozen
drink), and Dilly Bar.
At 19 chains, none of the possible
combination of the items offered for children met the center's nutrition
standards. At nine of the 19 chains, including McDonald's, Popeye's, Chipotle,
and Hardee's, no meals met the associations Kids LiveWell standards.
At Wendy's, only 5 percent of 40
possible kids' meals met the center’s standards – most items were too high
either in sodium or saturated fat; at Burger King, only 20 percent of the 15
possible kids' meals met the center’s criteria. At both of those chains, the
same low percentages of possible meal combinations met the association's Kids
LiveWell standards.
The center’s last review of the
nutritional quality of kids' meals at chain restaurants was in 2008. Overall,
chains have made little progress since then.
The center’s report recommends that
companies:
- Participate in the association's Kids
LiveWell program, and reformulate their kids' meals to meet those standards.
- Offer more fruit and vegetable options,
and make those, rather than French fries, the default sides.
- Offer more whole grains and remove soda
or other sugar drinks from kids' menus.
