Wellness Wednesday

Re-Thinking Fast Food Kids Menus
Fast food chains such as Panera and McDonalds are rewriting the rules on what should be included on the kid's menu to make it healthier.

America is currently undergoing a food revolution. After decades of supersizing meals, and expanding our waistlines in the process, American restaurants and schools are finally starting to take a look at portion sizes and ingredients. The transition from focusing on fat content to focusing on sugar content along with total carbs and calories has made schools focus on providing less processed food and more fresh and healthy low-calorie options. This change in focus has also led many fast food chains to rethink their menus, by adding more salads and fresh fruit/produce options while also offering some smaller portion sized options. But what about the kid's menu options? 

Many fast food restaurants have consistently stuck to the same kid's meals with high carb, sodium and sugar options, but restaurants such as Panera have turned that trend on its head by offering kid's sizes for all adult options. The CEO of Panera, Ron Shaich, has thrown down the gauntlet to other fast food CEOs by asking them to eat nothing but their kid's meal options for a month to see how non-nutritious and non-variant the options are. While many restaurants, such as Panera, are changing their kid's menus it is still the decision of the parents in regards to what the child ultimately eats at fast food restaurants.

Here are a few healthy kids-meal options at some fast food restaurants:

• Burger Kings kids chicken nuggets, with apples and a Capri Sun are a low-calorie and low-fat option that are relatively low in sugar and high in fiber.
• Wendy's chicken nuggets, apple slices and TruMoo milk provides a kid with a meal high in protein and fiber and low in calories.
• Arby's junior roast beef sandwich, Capri Sun and GoGo squeeze applesauce allows your child a low-calorie meal that is filling.