Regulating fast food kids' meals that include toys may end up making the meals healthier, according to a new study.
If a proposed new policy in New York City is approved, then fast food meals that come with toys would contain fewer calories overall, and fewer from fat and sodium, researchers report.
"We can create policies that will nudge us toward healthier behaviors," said senior author Marie Bragg, of NYU Langone Medical Center in New York.
The proposed policy, which was introduced to the New York City Council, says fast food meals that come with a small toy must include a serving of fruit, vegetable or whole grain. The law would also limit meals with toys to no more than 500 calories, and it would place additional restrictions on fat and salt.
To estimate the effect of the proposal, researchers analyzed food purchases made by 358 adults for 422 children at Burger King, McDonald's and Wendy's restaurants in New York City and New Jersey in 2013 and 2014.
The average child in the study was seven years old.
As reported in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the adults purchased an average of 600 calories of food for each child, with a third of those calories coming from fat.
The meals contained an average of 869 mg of salt - more than half the total daily limit recommended by the American Heart Association.
About 35 percent of the children ate kids' meals that came with toys - and 98 percent of those meals did not meet the proposed guidelines, the researchers write.
If all the meals with toys met the proposed standards, children would consume 9 percent fewer calories and there would also be 10 percent reductions in salt and calories from fat, the researchers calculated.
"It’s a rather small amount in comparison to how bad the country's obesity problem really is," Bragg acknowledged. But small changes could add up, she said.
"There's a lot of value in the incremental changes that can sum up to a great impact with all the other changes occurring in the environment," such as policies that create healthier workplaces and communities, Bragg told Reuters Health.
Bragg hopes fast food restaurants won't try to sidestep any new policies.
"We’re at a point where we have to move the needle and we have to do it with policies like this," she said.
Reuters
Tue Sep 01 2015
To estimate the effect of the proposal, researchers analyzed food purchases made by 358 adults for 422 children at Burger King, McDonald's and Wendy's restaurants in New York City and New Jersey in 2013 and 2014.
Freedom Flotilla to Gaza: Misi sekali lagi ditangguhkan, dijangka berlepas pada Jumaat
Ketika ini lokasi kapal memulakan pelayaran akan ditukarkan ke satu lokasi yang akan diumumkan dalam masa terdekat.
Pihak produksi masih terima Naim Daniel jika ubah fikiran
Ketua saluran Astro Ria, Norzeha Mohd Salleh memberitahu bahawa pihak produksi masih lagi memberi ruang kepada penyanyi tersebut untuk mempertimbangkan semula tawaran yang diberikan.
The Hardest Singing Show cabar kreativiti penyanyi tempatan
Program The Hardest Singing Show mencari satu juara yang mampu menyahut cabaran kreativiti luar limitasi.
Pekerja Ahli Parlimen EU disyaki jadi pengintip China
Polis Jerman telah menahan seorang pekerja ahli politik Parlimen Eropah Alternative for Germany (AfD) kerana disyaki menjadi pengintip China.
Amaran ribut hujan tahap tertinggi dikeluarkan di Guangdong, selatan China
Lebih 100,000 orang sudah dipindahkan akibat hujan lebat dan banjir yang boleh membawa maut di selatan China.
Jokowi dan anaknya bukan lagi ahli PDIP
Presiden Indonesia Joko Widodo atau Jokowi dan anaknya, bakal naib presiden Gibran Rakabuming Raka, bukan lagi ahli parti terbesar negara itu selepas mereka menyokong calon pesaing yang juga pemenang pilihan raya Prabowo Subianto.
Lima migran maut ketika cuba memasuki Perancis
Lima termasuk seorang kanak-kanak, maut dalam cubaan menyeberangi Selat Inggeris dari Perancis pada Selasa.
Polis New York lakukan penahanan himpunan lewat malam
Polis New York bertindak melakukan penahanan membabitkan peserta yang terlibat dalam himpunan solidariti terhadap Palestin di Universiti New York (NYU) pada lewat malam Isnin. Penahanan itu dibuat selepas mereka didakwa mengingkari arahan amaran pihak universiti untuk bersurai dan mengosongkan plaza yang menjadi tempat mereka berkumpul.
Break The Siege: Ada kemungkinan lokasi pelepasan kapal ditukar
Jawatankuasa Pemandu Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), Kamarul Zaman Shaharul Anwar memaklumkan, wujud kemungkinan lokasi pelabuhan bagi pelepasan kapal yang terlibat dalam misi Break the Siege of Gaza Freedom Flotilla ditukar.
Benarkan syarikat milik bukan Islam cetak Al-Quran, pengarah syarikat didenda
Seorang pengarah syarikat percetakan dijatuhi hukuman denda RM8,000 atau penjara lima bulan oleh Mahkamah Majistret Petaling Jaya pada Selasa selepas mengaku salah tidak mematuhi syarat-syarat lesen untuk mencetak atau menerbitkan Teks al-Quran, bulan lepas.
Restoran 'fast food' terkenal nak saman gerakan pro-Palestin, ini pendapat Michael Ang
Michael Ang memberikan pendapat tentang isu restoran fast food antarabangsa yang mahu mengenakan tindakan saman ke atas satu gerakan Pro-Palestin yang dikenali sebagai BDS Malaysia.
Restoran berkonsep fast food tidak dibenarkan gaji pekerja asing
Arahan itu diputuskan dalam mesyuarat Jawatankuasa Kabinet Mengenai Pekerja Asing dan Pendatang Asing Tanpa Izin, PATI ke 11.