• by Aaron Baar , August 5, 2008

Restaurants may have made progress over the past few years in providing more and healthier options for their kids' meals. But they are still offering too much fat, calories and sodium, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

According to the watchdog group, 93% of more than 1,400 possible choices for kids' meals at the nation's top 13 chains exceed 430 calories, which is a quarter of the daily calorie intake recommended by the Institute of Medicine for children ages four through eight. Furthermore, 45% of the kids' meals at the 13 chains are too high in saturated and trans fat, and 86% are too high in sodium, according to the CSPI.

"There are a few healthy options mixed in," Margo Wootan, CSPI's nutrition policy director, tells Marketing Daily. "But parents have to navigate a landscape of high fat, high sodium and high- calorie items to find them."

According to the study, one of the biggest offenders was Chili's, which offers 700 possible meal combinations. However, 658 of them--or 94%--exceeded the 400 calorie mark. (An egregious offender was a meal of fried chicken crisps, cinnamon apples and chocolate milk, which was 1,020 calories.)

The study also found that 93% of kids' meals at McDonald's and Wendy's had too many calories, as did 92% of the combinations at Burger King, 89% at Dairy Queen and 69% at Arby's. (The CSPI noted that its study was completed before Burger King began offering lowfat milk and apple slices cut to look like fries.)

On the flip side, Subway fared well, with only a third of its kids' meals exceeding 430 calories. The National Restaurant Association, which represents more than 945,000 restaurants across the country, said the CSPI's study failed to acknowledge the role of parental responsibility in the study, and said the industry had taken steps to offer healthier items on its kids' menus.

"There is a strong trend in the industry of restaurants providing more detailed information and choice in menu options for consumers," read a statement issued by the association. "This is a positive trend and one that consumers have recognized: A 2007 consumer survey showed that four-out-of-five customers said there were more healthy options available and more food choices available than there were two years earlier."

Wootan admits there has been progress. "A lot of chain restaurants have added a couple of healthy options. That's better than it was five years ago," Wootan says. "But they need to offer a range of health options so parents and kids can find something that they can agree on."

As a solution, Wootan called on the restaurants to reformulate their options to provide less fat, calories and sodium, and change their menus to make the healthier items--such as fresh fruit and milk--the default sides for kids' meals. She also said restaurants should better label their menu items showcasing the fat, sodium and calorie counts for all of the items on the kids' menu clearly and prominently While some chains offer the counts online or in brochures, Wootan says they need to be placed directly on menus or menu boards to have an impact.

"A little labeling could go a long way," she says. "I'm asking them to give parents a fighting chance. At the very least they should provide information on the menu boards."