HealthDay reported that children’s “fast-food lunches, often offered as rewards, accounted for up to 51 percent of most children’s daily caloric needs and more than 50 percent of their recommended daily sodium intake (100 percent of recommended sodium levels for preschoolers) meals,” according to a study in the journal Childhood Obesity.
Over six weeks, the researchers “surveyed 544 families with children as they entered a fast-food chain restaurant located inside” the Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego for lunch. They found the foods “most often bought for preschoolers were French fries, soda, chicken nuggets, cheeseburgers and hamburgers.”
Moreover, at least “35 percent of those fast food calories came from fat,” the study authors noted.
“Bottom line, we need to educate families on making health decisions when in a fast-food restaurant,” said Boutelle, acknowledging that any intervention to decrease fast-food consumption will need to take into account that people of all ages simply like fast food.
If you’d like tips on how to do this, consider getting a copy of my book, SuperSized Kids: How to protect your child from the obesity threat.