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Restaurant kids' meals found loaded with calories
August 3, 2008
Google/Associated Press: The nonprofit public health group Center for Science in the Public Interest has released a report on meal choices for children found on the menus of the nation's top restaurant chains.
Nearly every possible combination of the children's meals at Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell, Sonic, Jack in the Box and Chick-fil-A are too high in calories, the report said.
The report looked into the nutritional quality of kids' meals at 13 major restaurant chains. The center found 93 percent of 1,474 possible choices at the 13 chains exceed 430 calories — an amount that is one-third of what the National Institute of Medicine recommends that children ages 4 through 8 should consume in a day.
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The nonprofit California Center for Public Health Advocacy (CCPHA) will hold a news conference August 4, 2008, at 11 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time to release the findings of its investigation of the nutritional quality of children's meals at 13 major restaurant chains. The study calculates the number of possible meal combinations and determines the percentage that exceed recommended levels of calories, saturated fat and sodium.
NEW YORK — Co-authors David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding have released the book Eat This, Not That! For Kids, a year-long study of children's meals that reveals vast dietary differences among America's favorite fast-food and sit-down chain restaurants. The authors calculated calories, fat (trans and saturated), and sodium, as well as the average number of calories per children's entree.
The authors compared children's entrees, credited restaurants for having healthy adult options that would appeal to the young palate, evaluated healthy vegetable and fruit sides and drink options that go beyond sugar-laden soda and docked points for restaurants still dishing out unhealthy trans fats or refusing to release any nutritional information to their customers.
The result is a "Restaurant Report Card" for food chains.
- Chick-fil-A received an A for excelling in every category tested because of its selection of low-calorie sandwiches, the country's "healthiest" chicken nugget, a variety of sides like fresh fruit and soup that can be substituted into any meal, and nutritional brochures readily available at each location.
- Subway received an A- for its menu based on lean protein and vegetables with more than half a dozen sandwiches under 300 calories, plus a variety of soups and healthy sides. The authors warn that calorie counts posted on the menu boards include neither cheese nor mayo (add 160 calories per 6-inch sub) and some of the toasted subs, like the Meatball Marinara, contain hefty doses of calories, saturated fat and sodium.
- McDonald's received a B for its kid standards like McNuggets and cheeseburgers, both in the acceptable 300-calorie range. The chain also offers Apple Dippers and 2-percent milk.
- Burger King earned a C for having only four legitimate kids' entrees on the menu, with none of them -- French Toast Sticks, hamburger, mac and cheese, chicken tenders -- being particularly healthy. And while the recent addition of Apple Fries provides a healthy side-dish alternative for kids, the menu is still full of trans fats.
Eat This, Not That! For Kids is available nationwide on Aug. 19, 2008.
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