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.

Georgia's Solution to Childhood Obesity

While in Atlanta this past week visiting my family, I took in all the familiar sights and sounds of the city. I love looking at the bright lights and buildings during the Christmas season. One thing, however, caught my eye that I can’t seem to shake. As I was walking down the street with some friends, we passed a billboard with the image of a young girl and the words “Being fat takes the fun out of being a kid” written next to her. With a shocked expression on my face, I told my friends to read the billboard and they replied that similar billboards were all over the place.
Other billboards read: “It’s hard to be a little girl if you’re not.” “Big bones didn’t make me this way, big meals did.” “Fat prevention begins at home. And the buffet line.”
I have several issues with these messages.
Although childhood obesity is a serious issue, I believe these billboards are bringing more negative attention to this growing problem than good. One of the first things I learned while studying Public Health in school was that positive affirmations are more powerful than scare tactics. If the intent was to scare a child out of eating a large-size combo meal from their favorite fast food chain was the point in this ad, I’m not sure it’s going to work. In fact, with such a strong stigma placed on overweight children in this message I’m pretty sure it would cause almost anyone who finds comfort in food to turn just there after one glance of these billboards.

While other states have made vast improvements in the quality of food choices in vending machines and school cafeterias, I can’t figure out why the group sponsoring these billboards put so much time and money into such a negative message.
We all need to make a commitment to eat better, make time for physical activity and to simply treat ourselves better. Just as Lisette wrote about in her post “Just For Today,” each day we need to make a point to make at least one simple change to help improve our health—I think this is a much better message to share with youth today. Change starts with ONE thing, ONE person does. Let’s change where we go to dinner every Tuesday night; Let’s change what we do right after we get off from work. I believe that if we change at least one unhealthy habit ourselves and encourage today’s youth to join us, this simple act will have much more of an impact on obesity than these hurtful billboards.
An image of one of the billboards is below. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section.

Should The State Step In If Your Child Is Severely Obese?

Dr. David Ludwig, Harvard Pediatrics professor, proclaimed in a JAMA article  this week that children with life-threatening obesity might be best served by some type of state intervention. Ludwig is suggesting this radical involvement for children with BMI in the 99th percentile. He believes that initially child protective services should offer "intermediate options such as in-home social support, parenting training, counseling, and financial assistance, that may address underlying problems.” But ultimately if the child’s health does not improve the state would force the child into foster care. Ludwig told the Associated Press that he started thinking about the idea of state intervention nearly a decade ago, after a 3-year-old girl showed up at his obesity clinic weighing 90 lbs. By last year, at age 12, she had reached 400 lbs. and had developed diabetes, cholesterol problems, high blood pressure and sleep apnea.

Her parents had physical disabilities, little money and difficulty controlling her weight. "Out of medical concern, the state placed this girl in foster care, where she simply received three balanced meals a day and a snack or two and moderate physical activity," [Ludwig] said. After a year, she lost 130 pounds. Though she is still obese, her diabetes and apnea disappeared; she remains in foster care, he said.
An even less ethical solution is exhibited by the recent spike in children undergoing weight loss surgeries which carries physical risks and can be irreversible. Ludwig argues that “at first glance, bariatric surgery might seem an obvious solution, but the procedures don't have a lengthy safety record in teens, and they're not recommended for children.”

“Given that situations involving the undernourishment of children have frequently been defined as child abuse or neglect and warranted state intervention, it may be likely that overnourishment may be addressed similarly,” Ludwig argues.

H3 Chef Educator Travels to the White House to Support the First Lady’s Initiatives

 

H3’s very own, Chef Educator Marvis Hinson, will be traveling to the White House this Friday, June 4^th, in support of First Lady Michele Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative to combat childhood obesity.  Chef Hinson plus more than 50 other chefs from the American Culinary Federation (ACF) will join in these efforts to promote the Chefs Move to Schools program, which will be run through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

 

As part of her effort to turn policies into practical solutions for America’s families, Mrs. Obama is calling on chefs to get involved by adopting a school and working with teachers, parents and school nutrition professionals and administrators to help educate kids about food and nutrition. By creating healthy dishes that taste good, chefs have a unique ability to deliver these messages in a fun and appealing way to the larger audience, particularly children.  Read more about the initiative here.

 

Chef Marvis Hinson was selected to represent the state of Georgia this Friday in the kick-off event.  The President of the ACF said, “The chefs who will participate [in this program] were selected for their previous volunteerism with ACF and our Chef & Child Foundation. We are pleased that so many of our chefs will be at the White House for the kickoff, gathered with like-minded chefs who are passionate about promoting proper nutrition and fighting the obesity epidemic in America.”

 

We are excited for Chef Marvis to represent H3 through this healthy initiative, as it aligns so closely with our program. She is given the opportunity to teach others on a larger scale how to live a healthy lifestyle, creating meals that are not only healthy but delicious. 

 

The next time you visit H3, make sure you fit a demo by Chef Marvis into your schedule – as her meals are not one to miss!  Her soft-spoken, Southern charm radiates through her meals while you flashback to the comfort of your mother’s kitchen.