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Proposal may make children's fast food meals healthier in NYC

The proposal would represent a 10 percent reduction in calories contained in children's combination meals.

By Stephen Feller
Researchers said that eliminating children's meals would leave only adult portions as options for children, suggesting instead that increasing healthfulness of the meals as the better choice. File photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
Researchers said that eliminating children's meals would leave only adult portions as options for children, suggesting instead that increasing healthfulness of the meals as the better choice. File photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo

NEW YORK, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- The New York city council is set to consider the "Healthy Happy Meals" bill, which would require meals for children -- or at least those that come with toys -- to limit the number of calories as well as fat, sugar and sodium contained in the meal.

The move is an effort to reduce childhood obesity by targeting meals sold at fast food restaurants specifically aimed at children.

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"We found that kids that were ordering the children's meals, if the provisions in this bill were met, would save about 54 calories," Dr. Brian Elbel, an associate professor of population health and health policy at NYU Langone Medical Center, told CBS News. "We need to think of a number of policies happening at the same time. This bill could be a step in the right direction."

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Elbel is one of the authors on a study which looked specifically at the health value of children's meals bought in New York City and New Jersey at Burger King, McDonald's, and Wendy's during 2013 and 2014.

The data in the study is based on 422 children's meal purchases made by 358 adults who gave researchers the receipts and meals they'd purchased. The mean age of children consuming the meals was 7. A children's meal in the study was defined as including a main course, side items, drink and toy.

Based on the meals purchased, researchers found a mean of 600 calories per meal, 36 percent of which were from fat. Each meal was found to have 869 mg of sodium. Of the meals, 98 percent did not meet the proposed nutrition criteria for at least one nutrient; 51 percent exceeded the limit for calories, 55 percent for sodium, 78 percent for calories from fat, 14 percent for saturated fat, and 49 percent for added sugars.

The proposal, based on one already in use in several California cities, would require meals that include toys to have 500 calories or less, with less than 35 percent coming from fat, less than 10 percent from saturated fats, 10 percent from added sugars. The meals would also be required to contain less than 600 mg of sodium and include one serving of fruit, vegetables, or whole grains.

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While the proposed changes would represent a 9 percent decrease in calories and 10 percent reductions in both sodium and calories from fat, the researchers wrote that increasing general healthfulness in meals is ideal.

They note, however, that decreasing children's interest in fast food meals targeted at them with the use of toys and other child-friendly images would help the problem even more. They stop short of suggesting that children's meals be removed from menus because that would leave only adult portions that could make the problem worse, rather than better.

"No single policy can singlehandedly eliminate childhood obesity," researchers wrote. "Policymakers could consider broader restrictions on marketing, similar to legislation in Chile that banned any use of toy premiums in children's meals in 2012. Effectiveness of this policy will be shaped by whether the food industry attempts to neutralize the policy through marketing or other strategies."

The study is published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

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