Fast Food Nutrition Still Needs Improvement!

In the national effort to reduce childhood obesity, there has been a large push by a variety of advocates to improve fast food nutrition and marketing.  While this movement has resulted in some commendable improvements in fast food, such as a reduction in the amount of trans fat in fried foods and an increase in more fruit and vegetable options, a new report from Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity clearly indicates that more still needs to be done.

This new report studied the marketing efforts of 12 of America's largest fast food chains and assessed the nutritional quality of over 3,000 children's meal combinations.  A summary of this new study paints a rather disturbing picture:

Unhealthy foods still the norm:

• Of the more than 3,000 meal combinations analyzed, only 12 met the Yale researchers nutrition criteria for preschool children and only 15 met the nutrition criteria for older children.  That's less than 0.5% of the meals tested!
• Meals purchased by teens averaged 800-1,100 calories, which is about one-half of their daily recommendation.  This suggests that eating at a fast food restaurant puts teens at risk for consuming many more calories than needed.
• At least 30% of the calories from fast food meals came from sugar and saturated fat and a single meal often provided one-half of a child's sodium recommendation.

Healthier options are not emphasized:

• Healthier side dishes are rarely the default or 'regular' side provided with a meal.  The standard, automatically-provided side dishes remain French fries and a soda.
• Fast food restaurants are frequently renaming their portion sizes to give the appearance of being smaller rather than actually providing smaller portions.

Fast food marketing continues to increase:

• The number of fast food advertisements seen by preschoolers and children ages 6-11 in 2009 have increased by about 25-30% on average compared to the year 2007.
• 15% of preschoolers ask their parents every day to take them to a fast food restaurant, while 40% of children 2-11 years of age ask to go at least once per week.
• Over 85% of parents report taking their children to a fast food restaurants at least once per week.

This is important information for everyone, but particularly so for those who choose to dine at fast food restaurants.  It is important to remember that we can choose healthier options when dining at fast food restaurants (or any restaurant for that matter).  For example, one kid's meal that includes 4 chicken tenders + fries + a soft drink provides 645 calories, 906 mg sodium, 63 calories from fat, and 120 calories from sugar. In contrast, by replacing the fries with apple slices and the soft drink with fat-free milk, we cut calories (350 calories) and sodium (515 mg) nearly in half while reducing the amount of calories that come from fat and sugar.  Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity has established a web site, Fast Food FACTS, where you can learn more about fast food nutrition and your child's exposure to fast food marketing.

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