Kids' Meal Investigation

A Los Angeles McDonald's.

Photo: AP Photo / Nick Ut

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The Center for Science in the Public Interest released a report today that suggests nearly every possible kids' meal ordered at KFC, Taco Bell, Sonic, Jack in the Box and Chick-fil-A is too high in calories. The Center's investigation looked at kids' meals available at 13 top restaurant chains.

While it isn't exactly news that fast food is not the ideal nutritional choice, the facts are still surprising: Ninety-three percent of 1,474 possible choices at the 13 chains exceed 430 calories — that is one-third of what the Institute of Medicine recommends that children aged four to eight should consume in a day, according to a press release.

That means many of the meals contain close to an entire day's worth of calories!

Some results from the study include:

• 94 percent of Chili's possible kids' meals combinations are too high in calories, including one comprised of country-fried chicken crispers, cinnamon apples and chocolate milk (1,020 calories)
• Burger King has a “Big Kids” meal with a double cheeseburger, fries and chocolate milk (910 calories), and Sonic has a “Wacky Pack” with 830 calories worth of grilled cheese, fries and a slushie.
• KFC has some decent choices, but one example of a high-cal combo KFC kids' meal has popcorn chicken, baked beans, biscuit, Teddy Grahams and fruit punch, which has 940 calories.

On the brighter side, only a third of Subway's Fresh Fit for Kids meals, which include a mini-sub, juice box and one of several healthful side items (apple slices, raisins or yogurt), exceed the 430-calorie threshold.

One suggestion in the release is to add calorie counts to menus — already required at chains in New York City — to help parents make better choices. It says:

"If Arby’s kids’ meals had calorie counts, parents could see that substituting a fruit cup and a juice box for fries and a soda would cut a popcorn chicken meal from 720 calories to 420."

Do parents not know a fruit cup is a healthier option than fries?

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