Chick-Fil-A, McDonald's Have Unhealthiest 'Healthy' Kids' Meals Ever
Given the obesity crisis and Michelle Obama going around telling everyone to eat their vegetables, it's no surprise that fast-food restaurants are rolling out "healthy" options, especially for kids.
It seems, however, that even a "healthy" kids meal isn't very healthy at all. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine commissioned a study on the "healthy" kids meals at fast-food restaurants, coming up with the top five worst "healthy" meals.
Chick-fil-A's Grilled Nuggets Kids Meal made the list, which reportedly contains as much cholesterol as a Big Mac. Even grilled, the chicken contains 840 milligrams of sodium. Add on the waffle fries and chocolate milk? Even worse.
McDonald's Cheeseburger Happy Meal is just as bad, with more sodium than 13 orders of the kids' fries. Eek.
"It isn't a healthy meal if the cheeseburger's still on the plate," PCRM nutrition education director Susan Levin said in a press release. "Fast-food companies are trying to pull the wool over parents' eyes by adding apple slices to a fat-loaded meal." All these meals were marketed as somewhat "healthier" than normal, the PCRM says.
Denny's Build Your Own Jr. Grand Slam has 100 more milligrams of sodium than the recommended daily value, whereas Burger King's Hamburger Kids Meal has almost as much cholesterol as six slices of pork bacon.
Even scarier? Sonic Kids' Jr. Burger Meal reportedly contains more sugar than two Twinkies. The culprit, the study notes, is the fat-free caramel dipping sauce for the apple slices. Might as well throw a shake in there, too.