It was called The 20 Worst Kids Foods In America.
I was shocked by the nutritional values of some kids meals. There should be a law against this. These poor kids have no way of knowing what they are putting into their bodies. I bet if you explain to them what is in each meal lots of them would refuse to eat it.
Did you know that some restaurants actually serve a Grilled Cheese Sandwich with the same amount of fat as 25 strips of Bacon? That's just wrong.
The worst part is that some of the meals actually sound kind of healthy. I can even imagine how much chemicals and artificial flavors they must put in in order to make it so UNHEALTHY.
We do eat at many different restaurants, but I do pay attention to what my children order. There are times that their choice is not the best, but that's part of life.
When my older son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes we had to start counting carbs and calories for every meal he eats. That was an eye opener for me (not that we were unhealthy eaters before). I purchased a handy little pocket book called Calorie, Fat & Carbohydrate Counter available at Calorie King.
This little book not only contains nutritional values to every food imaginable, but it also includes nutritional values for 200 Fast Food Chains and Restaurants across U.S. and Canada. I highly recommend this book for every mom out there.
Anyway, after reading the article on MSN I decided that I must share it with all of you.
The 20 Worst Kids Meals In America:
1.Uno Chicago Grill Kids' Kombo with French Fries
- 1,250 calories
- 79 g fat (11.5 g saturated)
- 2,850 mg sodium
- 1,210 calories
- 51 g fat (9 g saturated)
- 610 mg sodium
- 1,100 calories
- 52 g fat (17.5 g saturated, 1.5 g trans)
- 1,870 mg sodium
- 1,040 calories
- 50 g fat (26 g saturated, 1 g trans)
- 112 g sugars
- 1,030 calories
- 61 g fat (15 g saturated)
- 1,590 mg sodium
- 1,010 calories
- 75 g fat (13 g saturated)
- 1,780 mg sodium
- 980 calories
- 70 g fat (20 g saturated)
- 1,860 mg sodium
- 980 calories
- 57 g fat (29 g saturated)
- 1,850 mg sodium
- 890 calories
- 67 g fat (38 g saturated)
- 1,480 mg sodium
- 890 calories
- 46.5 g fat (17.5 g saturated)
- 131 g carbohydrates
- 1,500 mg sodium
- 873 calories
- 46 g fat
- 88 g carbohydrates
- 860 calories
- 38 g fat (20 g saturated)
- 94 g sugars
- 680 calories
- 22 g fat (9 g saturated)
- 61 g sugars
- 1,440 mg sodium
- 670 calories
- 41 g fat (25 g saturated)
- 1,060 mg sodium
- 650 calories
- 27 g fat (12 g saturated)
- 1,120 mg sodium
- 11 g sugars
- 550 calories
- 15 g fat (3.5 g saturated)
- 690 mg sodium
- 34 g sugars
- 524 calories
- 31 g fat (6 g saturated)
- 646 mg sodium
- 260 calories
- 60 g sugars
- 210 calories
- 10 g fat (2 g saturated, 4 g trans)
- 370 mg sodium
- 146 calories
- 2 g fat (1 g saturated)
- 16 g sugars
- 1 g fiber
Please, remember that all of these are Kids Meals or Food that our children eat.
If you like to read the whole story with all the ugly details you will find it on MSN.com
5 comments:
Since being on a budget, we don't get to eat out much anymore, except for the picnics I prepare myself.
I have always been restricted in what I can order for the kids, because Sean used to have a milk allergy and still is allergic to eggs and tree nuts.
So, personally I don't worry about what they are eating when we go out (aside from avoiding Sean's allergens obviously), because it happens so rarely.
Having said that, the fact that all these restaurants offer such high-fat, high sodium meals, and probably no healthy alternative, is scary, considering a lot of families might not be restricting restaurant food intake as much as we are.
Just an aside, a friend of mine was telling me a little story where she walked into a friend's house who is a nutritionist and was startled to see a Big Mac container sitting on the television. When she asked what it was for, the reply was "Would you eat this if I heated it up?" My friend said that probably, it still looked appetizing. Well it turned out that that burger had been sitting there for three months and had not decomposed one bit. The friend had been keeping it there as a reminder to her kids on the value of good healthy fresh food without all the preservatives.
Sorry to hijack your blog! It was a good post and I had to contribute this little story.
Thanks for the story Shelly.
That's what I want my blogs be...sharing and talking.
We eat out in hockey season (when on the road with the boys), but I am always careful what they order (well 95% of the time). Isn't his sickening, thou? I have friends who work a lot and 80% of their kids diet is take-out and restaurants.
Very interesting post - I have read an Australian book called 'Additive Alert' and it is worrying what is put in food aimed at kids. MSG to flavour noodles and artificial colours in vanilla ice cream just to name a couple
OMGoodness! The amount of sodium in some of these meals are ridiculously high! No wonder younger and younger generations are getting inflicted with diseases that was formerly known to affect older generations.
Thanks for sharing this informative article. I'm relieved to find that none of these foods are part of my family's diet, but it is eye-opening nonetheless. It definitely reinforces the belief that processesed foods and foods from chain restaurants are best eaten on a very limited basis and considered the same way you would a big slice of cheesecake: as an indulgence.
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