Worst Restaurants in America for Kids
Posted on Friday, January 23rd, 2009 and is filed under Parenting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Fast-food is really fast, which is a great time-saver for the chef of the house, but fast-food has never really been the healthiest food for kids. A new study, uncovered in the book, Eat This, Not That! For Kids, has revealed that most fast-food restaurants and “sit-down” eateries can be nutrition nightmares for parents.
The authors of the book, David Zinczenko, editor-in-chief of Men’s Health magazine, and Matt Goulding, the food and nutrition editor of the same publication, calculated fat, calories, sodium, and the other things that are nutrition no-nos from top restaurants around the country. Here are the results:
Chick-fil-a received an A. They have several low-calorie sandwiches and the country’s healthiest chicken nuggets according to the authors. To top it off, they have fresh fruit and soup that can be substituted in any meal.
Subway came in close with an A-. Most of those protein-and-vegetable laden sandwiches pack a punch with less than 300 calories. But the authors warn: the calorie count does NOT include mayonnaise and cheese. Add another 160 calories for that! And the Meatball Marinara, toasted sub, is full of saturated fat and sodium, to boot.
Boston Market received a B+. Their home-cooked style food comes with plenty of vegetables and lean meats. But. It also comes with side dishes that can pack on the calories. The authors contend that the meatloaf has 55 ingredients.
McDonald’s got a B grade. The kids’ standards, McNuggets and cheeseburgers, are in the 300-calorie range, an acceptable number for the authors. But they warn to stay away from the French fries and soda. The Apple Dippers and 2 percent milk would make better choices.
Domino’s = C+. Three buzz words from the authors: cheese, bread and greasy. Three-hundred and fifty calories per slice of pizza can be expected if parents don’t choose their toppings carefully. One plus for Domino’s, though; they do offer the lower-calorie, thin crust pizza. If parents must order pizza with meat, go with the ham. Author’s orders.
Burger King received a C, with four kid’s meals on the menu, in which the authors were not fond of because they were “sullied” with trans fat. Adults can get away with a Whopper Junior and salad with only 365 calories, while the kids can eat the four-piece, Chicken Tenders, applesauce or Apple Fries, and wash it down with milk or water.
Chipotle: D. That can’t be good. Its gigantic portion sizes probably had something to do with it; it’s not unusual for their main meals to easily topple over 1,000 calories!–the authors state. The authors recommend sharing the portions to keep your caloric intake down.
Nutrition Nightmares: IHOP, Outback, Applebee’s, Red Lobster, Olive Garden and T.G.I. Fridays’. The authors state that these restaurants didn’t provide nutrition facts about their entrees, although recent legislation–requiring eateries to publish its nutrition facts–gave them a glimpse behind the closed doors. And it wasn’t good. These restaurants received F’s.
Go here to purchase the book from Amazon.
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I went to McDonald’s last week after a long day of shopping and found that they had the total calories of each meal listed on the menu. I was floored! I hadn’t been to McDonald’s in about six months, but I knew that the new law, requiring the calorie count of each meal to be posted, would take effect. It was still shocking to see them up there. I ordered a Diet Coke and two hamburgers (I skipped the fries).