| If
you think that taking your kids to chain restaurants like Applebees,
Chili’s and Outback are healthier for your kids than going
to fast food restaurants, you may want to think again.
New studies have found that the fries, chicken fingers, burgers
and pizzas on the kids’ menus are loaded with calories,
salt and bad fats.
Most parents visit these restaurants for their kid-friendly
atmosphere, free crayons and fun activity placemats and would
feel very unsettled if they knew their children were eating
meals with adult numbers of calories. Rather than giving the
kids an option for healthy meals, their menu choices are limited
to super-sized portions of burgers, fries and fried chicken
fingers.
A summary by the Center for Science in the Public Interest
reveals:
Outback Steakhouse
- A Boomerang cheeseburger has 840 calories and 31 grams
of bad fat.
- Fries have 840 calories and 31 grams of bad fat.
- A Spotted Dog Sundae with chocolate sauce adds another
730 calories and 27 grams of bad fat.
Applebee’s
- A grilled cheese sandwich has 520 calories and 14 grams
of bad fat.
- Add an order of fries and the meal now has 900 calories.
This would be equivalent to three pork chops.
Chili’s
- Little chicken crispers have 360 calories and eight grams
of bad fat.
- Add fries and the meal jumps to 710 calories and eight
grams of bad fat. This would be equivalent to two McDonald’s
quarter pounders.
Some restaurants have tried to make improvements to their
menus by adding healthier options. Red Lobster changed their
menu and now offers a free appetizer of carrot sticks and
cucumbers or applesauce. They have also added three new lower
calorie entrees--snow crab legs, grilled mahi-mahi and grilled
chicken with steamed vegetables.
A possible answer to countering this growing problem of childhood
obesity would be having legislation require restaurants to
print nutrition information on the menus.
The media has also played a big role in the increasing rate
of childhood obesity. Reports concluded that children’s
overexposure to food advertising might be the key contributor
to childhood obesity.
Studies have shown that a typical child is exposed to 40,000
candy, cereal, soda and fast-food ads a year and several food
marketing campaigns are using children’s favorite television
and movie characters such as SpongeBob Cheez, Scooby-Doo cereals
and Teletubbies Happy meals. In many cases, this exposure
determines the kinds of foods the child will pick out or request
in grocery stores.
Key findings on the media and childhood obesity include:
-
Cutting back on children’s television time has resulted
in weight loss.
-
Time children spend watching television has not been shown to take the place
of physical activity. Children who watch less television
engage themselves in sedentary activities such as video
games, reading books or talking on the phone.
-
Children’s exposure to food television ads may be influencing their food
choices.
The media can turn the childhood obesity problem around by
reducing food ads targeted to children and creating campaigns
that promote healthy eating and exercise.
Center
for Science in the Public Interest February 24, 2004
The
Kaiser Foundation February 24, 2004
| 