By Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.
By now most of you have read or seen the gruesome details about kid's meals at fast food restaurants:
* 93 percent of kid meal combos from major food chains exceed the 430 calorie per meal recommendations made by the Institute of Medicine for children ages 4 to 8. (This is approximately one-third of the daily calories that children in this age group need.)
* 86 percent exceed recommendations for sodium.
* Almost half are over the top in saturated and trans fat.
All of this was found by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which looked at only those chains that have dedicated children's menus. The report goes on to quote the following "health" statistics for children:
* Obesity rates have tripled in children over the past 20 years.
* One quarter of children ages 5 to 10 show elevations in blood cholesterol or blood pressure — early warning signs for heart disease.
* Autopsies of teens (15 to 19 year olds) show signs of fatty deposits in more than one artery and 10 percent have more advanced fibrous plaques.
According to the Institute of Medicine's 2005 report "Preventing Childhood Obesity: Health in the Balance":
* Immediate risks of obesity also include serious psychological burdens for our children — shame, self-blame, and low self-esteem that can impair academic and social functioning.
* The obesity epidemic may reduce overall adult life expectancy because it increases lifetime risk for type 2 diabetes and other serious chronic diseases.
This really gets to me. Who's taking these kids out to eat? Adults. Who's operating these establishments? Adults. Who needs to take responsibility? Adults.
If we're not motivated to do something for children, then let's get real about ourselves. When we take children out to eat, consider what we order — big burger or several fried chicken pieces? French fries (small) — right? And then there's the diet beverage to offset things? AND, who finishes our kids meals? Us.
Taken together, the calories we consume for our meal and the leftovers from our kids meal(s) far exceed the 430 in the "Happy Meal." (And one-third of our estimated calorie needs are about 700 or so for sedentary adults.)
How do you deal with this? It starts with one adult person who's willing to accept responsibility for our children and for ourselves. Let's start a list of what we can do. I'll look forward to hearing from you.
source : mayoclinic.com
