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Fast Food Ads Soar, Most Parents and Kids Oblige
Kids like fast food, fast food likes kids
A study released today from the Yale Food Policy & Obesity Center says that fast food chains are working harder to advertise to children. Meanwhile, the food continues to pack the same unhealthy fats, sugars, salt and processed empty calories as always.
The Yale researchers looked at 12 popular fast food chains — focusing specifically on “kids meals.” They found that of 3,000 options labeled for kids, only 12 met the nutritional guidelines for preschool children.
But even though they’re little kiddie diabetes-makers, the push to advertise fast food heavily to kids goes on – the average preschooler sees 21 percent more ads for fast food than they did in 2003. African American kids see 50 percent more.
And according to the study, little kids are jonesing big time for the meals — parents said 40 percent of their preschoolers ask to go to a fast food restaurant on a weekly basis. 84 percent of parents say they’ve taken their kid to a fast food restaurant in the last week.
Here is what the study found to be the worst and best meals marketed to kids:
Worst kids meal #1: Dairy Queen’s cheeseburger, french fries, a sugar sweetened soft drink and chocolate bar, which totaled 973 calories.
Worst kid’s meal #2: KFC’s popcorn chicken kids meal, with a biscuit, soda and a side of string cheese, which totaled 840 calories.
Best kid’s meal: Subway’s “Veggie Delite” with a side of apple slices and 100-percent juice
Of course little kids crave happy meals if they’ve experienced the fatty goodness before. Fast food is made to trick our cave-man brains into thinking we’ve just struck gold with a high-calorie nutrient rich meal. Sugar and fat send signals to our brains that it’s a good idea to binge — who knows when you might find such high-fat luck again (in this case apparently the answer is next week, at the latest).
Here’s a link to the nutritional breakdown for kids meals at fast food chains.
image: flickr/ceiling
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5 Comments
Quark commented on Nov 08 10 at 5:31 pmGet real. Foodmakers have been advertising products targeted at kids since I was one back in the 50s and early 60s. Parents have been used to saying no to their kids everytime they go to the market and want a candy bar located right next to the cshier. They’ve been doing it for decades and decades. Get real this is America and quit trying to police people with your food police attitudes. Part of raising your kids is saying no, no matter how many times. Just tell your kids if you don’t quit asking you are having other priveleges taken away. They’ll learn, I did and so did the tens of thousands of others that grew up in my generation. The truth is the parents are the ones who want to go out because they are too lazy or tired to cook but won’t admit it. What will it be next for us oh royal food police since you know what’s best for us.
http://SpirFit.org/Blogs commented on Nov 08 10 at 6:29 pmWe have to get the kids to want to avoid these fast food joints (or limit the number of visits to once a month or so). If they don’t have the intrinsic desire to make healthier eating choices, nothing would work. I’ve noticed a lot of kids (10 – 17 year olds) congregating outside (and probably inside) of fast food restaurants in my neighborhood around 3-4pm every school day. They’ll go to these fast food places even if their parents don’t bring them.
One way to get them to eat healthy is to have them involved in a sport they like to play. My experience training young athletes have shown me that young people are able to make good eating choices when it’s for improving their athletic abilities.
Anita commented on Nov 08 10 at 6:45 pmGlad you wrote about this important report. This is useful info for parents. The CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Fdn posted about this as well: http://www.momsrising.org/blog/get-the-facts-on-fast-food/
sarah smith commented on Nov 09 10 at 5:21 am
advertisment commented on Jun 27 11 at 8:31 amThey’ve been doing it for decades and decades. Get real this is America and quit trying to police people with your food police attitudes. Part of raising your kids is saying no, no matter how many times
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satti
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