The fast food industry has been promising to do something about the climbing obesity rates for a while now, but according to Allen Kanner, co-founder of Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, this supposed self regulation is a farce, a trick and joke.
Big chains promising to help fight fat three years ago have not delivered on their promise according to a recently released report.
The report showed that out of 3,000 meal combinations that major chains sell, only 12 meet the nutritional guidelines set down for preschool children. The adverts and the free toys don’t help either.
People are now wondering if the government needs to step in as it has done in California – in San Francisco, restaurants are prohibited from giving free toys along with the meals that contain more than 600 calories and have more than 10% of saturated fat.
Though McDonald’s says that they are proud of their menu and that they are “committed to responsible marketing practices, including advertising and promotional campaigns for our youngest customers” this may not be enough. McDonald’s and Burger King have both promised to advertise only their healthier items, but parents need to get involved as well – they need to ask for the healthier items. If they ask for a kid’s meal, they are still only likely to get fries and a coke.
