Happy Meal Makeover

The facts don’t lie. A recent study found that teens who dine out consume more calories, fats, sugar and sodium in each meal than those who dine at home. We’re not talking about a small difference here either. On average, teens ages 12-19 consume just over 300 more calories when grabbing a quick bite to eat at a fast food joint, and over 250 extra calories when eating at a restaurant. These are the extra calories they’re consuming per meal they eat out.  Just think about how quickly those calories can add up.

Although it’s pretty clear that preparing a home cooked meal would be the ‘best’ option here, I understand that eating every meal at home can be a challenge. So some fast food restaurants are making strides to combat the childhood obesity epidemic.

After much criticism for their high calorie and high fat menu choices, McDonald’s has decided to reduce the size of their Happy Meal fries. This change, which was to have taken effect in September, has reduced the calorie content of a McDonald’s Happy Meal from 530 calories to 435 calories. While the new Happy Meal does have increased amounts of sodium, McDonald’s did manage to shave off about 6 grams of fat along with the cut in calories. They have reduced the amount of fries and added apple slices to each meal, and suggest replacing soda with either 1% milk or fat-free chocolate milk.

McDonald’s has a pretty bad rep when it comes to healthy eating but I have to say that I am pretty happy with their recent improvements. Now, we just have to get kids used to eating the apples instead of tossing them in the trash. But hey, one step at a time.