How children’s
meals at fast food and other types of restaurants contribute to obesity in
children was the focus of an Oct. 31 worksession held by the County Council’s
Health and Human Services Committee. The worksession included a presentation
from representatives of the nutrition policy section of the Center for Science
in the Public Interest (CSPI), which has produced a report entitled, “Kids’
Meals: Obesity on the Menu.”
The HHS
Committee, which is chaired by Councilmember George Leventhal and includes
Councilmembers Nancy Navarro and Craig Rice, started the worksession by stating
it did not call for the discussion based on any developing legislation.
Committee members said they wanted to learn more about the findings of CSPI and
how restaurants in the County were trying to address the issue on their own initiative.
Margo Wootan, the director of nutrition policy for CSPI, was
among those attending the worksession. Also in attendance was Michaeline
Fedder, president of MD HEAL (Maryland Healthy Eating and Active Lifestyle
Coalition, Inc.); Melvin Thompson, senior vice president for governmental
affairs and public policy for the Restaurant Association of Maryland; Joan
Rector McGlockton, vice president for food policy for the National Restaurant
Association; and Joy Dubost, director of nutrition for the National Restaurant
Association.
The report
"Kids' Meals: Obesity on the Menu" states that many restaurant chains
offer menu items especially for, and marketed to, children. Research has shown that children
consume on average 25 percent
of their daily calories at fast-food and other restaurants, meaning the
nutritional quality of those meals is important. The report investigates the
types of children's menu items and the nutritional quality of children's meals
at the largest restaurant chains in the United States.
“Fast food restaurants use toys and other sophisticated marketing
techniques to peddle food to children that isn't good for them,” said
Councilmember Leventhal. “Children are not equipped to make wise consumer
choices in their own best interest. This is a serious ethical problem. The
Center for Science in the Public Interest found that 91 percent of meals
specifically peddled to children fail to meet a minimum nutritional standard.
“We held this meeting to send a message to our local restaurant
industry that the Montgomery County Council takes seriously its charge to
promote a culture of wellness and advance public health. While we are not
considering legislation at this time, we will return to this topic again in the
future in the hope that local fast food restaurants will change their practices
and offer more healthful choices for children's meals.”
Of the top 50 chains, nine (18 percent) did
not have dedicated
children's menu items or meals. Of the 41 chains with children's items, 34 (83
percent) offered children's meal combinations and provided adequate information
for nutrition analyses. The report assesses the nutritional quality of all
possible children's meal combinations against a set of standards developed by a
panel of nutrition and health experts, and against the National Restaurant
Association's (NRA) Kids LiveWell standards.
Of the 3,494 meal
combinations, 97 percent do not meet the expert nutrition standards for
children's meals and 91 percent do not meet the NRA's Kids LiveWell standards.
Nineteen of the restaurant chains offering children's meals (56 percent) do not
have even one meal that
meets the expert nutrition standards and nine chains (26 percent) do not have
one meal that meets the Kids LiveWell standards.
For more information about restaurants and obesity in
children, see the Council packet at: http://www6.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/council/pdf/agenda/cm/2013/131031/20131031_HHS1.pdf
