Science Daily: A recent study of the nutrient quality of children's meals in the Houston quick-service market found that only 3 percent of kids' meals served at QSRs met federal dietary guidelines. The researchers assessed the quality of kids' meals by using nutrient values provided by the major QSRs, the seven nutrient criteria from the National School Lunch Program and dietary guidelines for sodium, fiber, added sugar and trans fat.
The small percentage of meals that did meet dietary guidelines included fruit as a side dish and milk, and nearly all were deli-sandwich meals. However, more than 65 percent of the meals exceeded guidelines for total fat, 75 percent were deficient in calcium, 82 percent were deficient in iron and 85 percent were deficient in vitamin A.
