What are they feeding our children?

If you don't have kids, you may not have noticed the deplorable way in which manufacturers seduce youngsters into eating foods that are good for profits but bad for health. Companies and their ad agencies use every trick in the book: TV commercials, vending machines in schools, premiums, contests, tie-ins with--or products strategically placed in--TV shows or movies, fast-food outlets in public schools.

The article starting on page 12 explores how kids' menus at table-service restaurants offer a limited range of foods that are mostly high in calories, saturated and trans fat, sugar, and salt: hamburgers, cheeseburgers, french fries, pizza, fried chicken fingers, and soft drinks. What's the harm?

A kid's cheeseburger and fries at Outback Steakhouse, for example, comes with more than 800 calories and close to two days' worth of damaging (saturated-plus-trans) fat. And the free Coke (never mind the free refills) adds another 130 calories and eight teaspoons of sugar. Many restaurants compound the damage by offering free desserts.

Of course, restaurateurs aren't trying to undermine children's health. I suspect that they want nothing more than to satisfy potentially disruptive pediatric customers as quickly as possible. Nothing like having a hungry, cranky seven-year-old pounding the table or marauding around your restaurant with a butter knife.

Parents need to figure out how to outfox the restaurants. A few tips: soothe hunger pangs by asking for carrot and celery sticks as soon as you sit down; encourage kids to dig into any free salad that comes to the table; go for the grilled chicken or fish and veggies that some chains serve; and order orange juice, 1% fat or fat-free milk, or (if you must) caffeine-free diet soda. (And get your children to visit www.smartmouth.org, our Web site that shows youngsters how healthy eating can be fun.)

More broadly, to stop prepping kids for weight-loss camps and, eventually, angioplastics, restaurants should:

1. Improve existing foods. Stop frying in partially hydrogenated oils (which contain damaging trans fat), reduce salt levels, offer fat-free and 1% fat milk, switch to whole-wheat (or at least 50% whole-wheat) bread, go light on the cheese on pizzas, and serve baked or roasted potatoes.

2. Add more-healthful foods. Give youngsters a kid-sized salad as soon as their little behinds hit the chair. Offer them the same steamed or sauteed vegetable side dishes that adults can order. Put some grilled chicken or fish on their menu. Serve them fresh fruit or yogurt topped with fruit or granola.

3. Print nutrition information on menus. Give parents and teens a fighting chance to pick the best foods.

Good luck (you'll need it)!

Michael F. Jacobson, Executive Director

Center for Science in the Public Interest