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Most Kids' Meals Exceed Suggested Daily Intake

Restaurants lobby to keep nutritional facts secret

By Joseph S. Enoch
ConsumerAffairs.com

August 4, 2008

Childhood Obesity • Pressure to Look Attractive Linked to Fear of Rejection • Researchers Suggest Fast Food Ad Ban to Attack Obesity • Green Neighborhoods May Reduce Childhood Obesity • CSPI Raps Nickelodeon Food Ads • Most Kids' Meals Exceed Suggested Daily Intake • Safeway, Warner Bros. Promote Healthful Kids' Food • Childhood Obesity Holding Steady, Study Finds • Doctor Offers Antidote To 'Super-Size Me' Diet • Spanish Language TV Linked To Latino Child Obesity • States Get Poor Grades on School Food • More Sleep Time May Cut Child Obesity • Kellogg Pledges Food Marketing Changes • Consumer Group Scolds Nickelodeon • CSPI: School Food Plan Should be Law of the Land • TV Food Ads Make Obese Kids Hungrier • Study Finds Food is Most-Advertised Kids Product • Senate Eyes Stricter School Lunch Standards • More Teens Having Weight Loss Surgery • Sedentary Teens More Likely to Have Higher Blood Pressure • Poll: Obesity Top Health Issue for Kids • Pediatricians Want Stricter Controls on Junk Food Ads • Brits Take Action on Junk Food Ads Aimed at Kids --- • More ...

Nearly all kids meals at national restaurant chains exceed the recommended daily intake for a child's meal, according to a report released today by a consumer advocacy organization.

"When you take a kid out to a restaurant, virtually every meal aimed at kids is above their suggested caloric intake,"said Michael Jacobson, executive director of the not-for-profit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).

93 percent of 1,474 kids meal combos at 13 chains exceed the limit of 430 calories that experts recommend for 4-8-year-olds for one meal, according to the report from the CSPI. Topping the list were two items from Chili's kids menu that each offered just over 1,000 calories while many others contained 700 or more.

The report also found there are usually few, if any, healthy items that can be substituted for french fries and other fatty dishes that are often the default sides that come with kids meals.

Obesity rates among children have tripled over the past 20 years and part of the blame lies with restaurants, said Dr. Margot Wootan, a nutritional health expert with CSPI.

"A very large number of children already have the warning signs of heart disease,"Wootan said.

Every kids meal combo at Kentucky Fried Chicken, Sonic, Taco Bell, Jack in the Box and Chick-fil-A exceed the recommended calorie count, according to the report. Subway has the healthiest kids menu with only 33 percent of the meals exceeding 430 calories.

Wootan suggested restaurants post the caloric information on menus, offer more healthy options and that the default side dishes be swapped for healthier items.

"There needs to be more options so parents can find something healthy their kids will eat," Wootan said.

Kids meals offered at Disney resorts automatically come with healthy sides such as fruit and salads. The healthy sides can be exchanged for fries and other less healthy dishes, but 70 percent of the time, patrons keep the meal as it is offered on the menu, Wootan said.

"Kids love grapes and lots of different foods," Wootan said. "Instead, there's usually only french fries."

While some restaurants refuse to share nutritional information, many others only have it available on their Web sites, according to the report.

New York City currently requires chain restaurants to label the calorie contents on the menu in the same size font as the price and name of the item, although the New York State Restaurant Association has a pending lawsuit against the city's decision.

It's the first place in the U.S. to enact such a rule, but similar laws are pending in California and Portland, Ore. Restaurant associations are also lobbying hard in California and Portland, said Cathy Nonas, director of Physical Activity and Nutritional Programs for the New York City Health Department.

"They're spending a lot of money to hide the nutritional information," Nonas said.

Chuck Hunt, executive vice president of the New York State Restaurant Association, said the city's law violates the first amendment and is preempted by a Federal law that exempts restaurants from sharing nutritional information.

He said they are fighting the law because of the city's "inflexible" procedure when creating it.

The California Restaurant Association supports mandating that restaurants offer brochures with nutritional information at the point of sale, but not that they put the calorie count on the menu, said the association's spokesman, Daniel Conway.

"I think every time someone wants to go to a restaurant, they may not want to have this information," Conway said. "It doesn't give the customer a choice."

New York City's law follows a study of 7,000 people that found that restaurant patrons chose on average 52 less calories when given the calorie contents before they purchased their meal.

If restaurants are forced to display the calorie content on the menu, they will be forced to reformulate their menu so that is healthier, Nonas said. She compared it to the law that required processed food manufacturers to disclose whether their food contains trans fats. Since then, trans fats have nearly disappeared from that market, she said.

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