Dr. Mercola March 13 2004 2,818 views
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
Applebee’s
Chili’s
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
This information is not new as I mentioned it nearly four years ago. The combination of excessive television and fat-filled child menus are two of the biggest contributors to childhood obesity. Excessive television watching and fat-filled fast food children’s menus are working together to make our children fatter and fatter. The simple act of turning off the television has slowed down obesity over any other form of exercise program or diet. Television ads are particularly problematic especially considering that a typical child sees 40,000 television ads a year.
If we want to save our children unnecessary grief and future diseases, the time to act is now. Encouraging our children to make healthy food choices, cutting soda out of their diet and switching to water is a step in the right direction.
From there, I recommend incorporating the no-sugar or grains eating program described in my Total Health Program and Cookbook. You will find this program will vastly decrease your child’s craving for sweets and build up their immune system.
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