Fat food: Study finds kids' meals are chock full o' calories

The air conditioning in Taco Bell made 6-year-old Richie Gardner cold, but his soft tacos and red Blitz Speed Racer toy car were a temporary distraction.

"He loves Taco Bell," said grandfather Joe Cronin, of Marshfield, who got Richie his kid's meal at the Norwell, Mass., restaurant.

High obesity rates in children Richie's age and the link studies show between obesity and fast food have become the latest target of an advocacy group's report on the health impact of kids' meals.

On Monday, the Center for Science in the Public Interest released a study that found 93 percent of meals at 13 restaurant chains exceeded the calories the Institute of Medicine, a part of the National Academy of Sciences, recommends for children.

"Fried chicken is the most popular, followed by hamburgers, grilled cheese and macaroni and cheese," said the center's director of nutrition policy, Margo Wootan.

The center counted calories for kids' meals at 19 national restaurant chains.

"For KFC, Sonic, Jack in the Box, Chick-Fil-A and Taco Bell, all of the possible meal options were too high in calories," Wootan said.

Too high, meaning more than 430 calories per meal. The Institute of Medicine recommends three times that amount a day, or 1,300 calories, for moderately active children 4 to 8.

The company that owns KFC and Taco Bell, Yum! Brands, doesn't think its meals are too caloric. It called the center's study inaccurate.

"KFC offers a number of kids' meal options well below 430 calories," said a company spokesman, Rick Maynard. A drumstick, corn-on-the-cob, Teddy Grahams and small diet drink there, he said, is 290 calories.

The center included a biscuit and baked beans in its 940-calorie meal-calculation, items not part of its standard kids' meals, he said.

Over the years, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit founded in 1971, has launched a number of campaigns against foods it considers unhealthy, including Chinese food, most fast foods, soft drinks, coffee and fettuccine Alfredo, which the group labeled a ''heart attack on a plate.''

Abbie Swanson may be reached at aswanson@ledger.com.

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FAST FOOD FACTS

<ul>

<li>The Center for Science in the Public Interest found children get one-third of their calories from meals eaten outside the home - two times more than in 1970.</li>

<li>Child obesity rates have tripled since 1980. Type 2 diabetes is so common in children, the prefix "adult-onset" has been dropped from its name.</li>

<li>One in every four children aged 5 to 10 have has high cholesterol. Coupled with too much saturated fat, this makes children more prone to heart disease as as result of arteries clogged in childhood.</li>

<li>Of the 25 restaurant chains the center looked at in its report, six had no children's menus. The only chain that doesn't offer soft drinks with kids' meals, Subway, had the healthiest mini-sub kids' meal options.</li>

<li>Burger King's 420-calorie macaroni and cheese, fried apples "apple fries" and 1 percent milk was found to be a healthier option than the 910-calorie "Big Kids" meal of a double cheeseburger, fries and chocolate milk. Sonic's "Wacky Pack," a grilled cheese, fries and a slushie, came in at 830 calories.</li>

<li>Some New York City restaurants are required to list calorie counts. Twenty-five other states are considering legislation to mandate the display of nutritional information.</li>

</ul>

Source: The Center for Science in the Public Interest