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30 Years Of Happy Meals

July 22nd, 2009 by Gwenn Schurgin O'Keeffe, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips
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It’s always a bit of a landmark when something like the Happy Meal reaches a big milestone in years. This week marks it’s 30th anniversary of being introduced into our lives. That’s a lot of years, a lot of meals and a lot of small cute toys!

A meal in a box…who would have thought! I do remember when they first came out and parents with little kids flocked to them like flies to sticky paper. However, coming in at 600 calories for an average meal, packed a huge punch on the typical child’s health and waist band. Indeed, as noted by ABC News, childhood obesity has increased by 4x over the last 3 decades moving from only 4% the child population to 17%!!

The McDonald’s rep interviewed by ABC News mentioned that the “most popular” Happy Meal, the chicken nuggets with apples, is now only 360 calories. That is a great decrease by just shy of 50%.

Let’s not celebrate yet. What we need to consider is what proportion of a daily calorie amount this mean eats up.

Calorie amounts vary by age and gender. Here’s how it breaks down with recent recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics:

• Toddlers: 1000 calories a day
• 4-8 yr old girls: 1200 calories a day
• 4-8 yr old boys:1400 calories a day
• 9-13 yr old girls: 1600 calories a day
• 9-13 yr old boys: 1800 calories a day
• 14-18 yr old girls: 1800 calories a day
• 14-18 yr old boys: 2000 calories a day

Now, let’s look at some of the most popular Happy Meal calorie counts:

• Chicken nugget meal with Apple dippers & Apple Juice: 380 cals
• Chicken nugget meal with fries, 1% chocolate milk: 580 cals
• Hamburger meal with apple dippers, white milk: 460 cals
• Hamburger meal with fries, chocolate milk: 650 cals
• Cheeseburger meal with apple dippers, white milk:500 cals
• Cheeseburger meal with fries, chocolate milk: 700 cals

Finally, what percentage of a child’s daily calorie count will each of these meals snatch up for a toddler at 1000 calories a day?

• Chicken nugget meal with Apple dippers & Apple Juice: 38% Chicken nugget meal with fries, 1% chocolate milk: 58%
• Hamburger meal with apple dippers, white milk: 46%
• Hamburger meal with fries, chocolate milk: 65%
• Cheeseburger meal with apple dippers, white milk:50%
• Cheeseburger meal with fries, chocolate milk: 70%

What about if the child is a 5 year old girl requiring only 1200 cals/day?

The kicker here is that if we run these numbers for the teens, the percentages wouldn’t be quite as bad but teens go for the bigger meals which put them right back into these ranges in the end! (A Quarter Pounder alone is 400 calories! Check this list out for more details.)

Fast food such as Happy Meals is one of the big players in obesity in general for all populations. There are times we all have to grab and go because of work, travel and circumstances beyond our control. The key to not have the loaded calories make too much of a long term dent is to have a fast food plan and to work on being more healthy over all. Here are my suggestions:

1. Pick small portions and healthy alternatives at fast food places, and teach our children to do so as well. When in doubt, down size and pass on the fries or split them.
2. Eat healthy in general so the fast food day is the exception, not the rule.
3. Be as active as possible daily so your body and your children’s bodies have a way to burn the added calories.

McDonald’s job is to sell food and lure you and your kids’ through the doors. Your job is to keep your kids healthy and teach them how to be healthy life long. Have a Happy Meal once in a while…but do so thoughtfully and don’t delude yourself that these meals are anything close to healthy. The new packaging and food choices are just new hype for the same old unhealthy song.

*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Gwenn Is In*

Would You Like A Bigger Butt With Those Fries?

July 22nd, 2009 by Nancy Brown, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion
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Do you know that most adults should eat less than 2,000 calories a day? Sounds like a lot, until you consider that if you eat out, you can get your entire days worth in one meal. Here are some amazing facts (chosen at random):

• At Burger King – a triple whopper with cheese has 1,230 calories – add medium fries (360) and medium chocolate shake (690) and you are up to 2,280 calories!
• The Cheesecake Factory brings you beer battered fish & chips at 2,160 calories, add a piece of Adam’s Peanut Butter Fudge Ripple Cheesecake (1,326) for a total of 3,486 calories!
• How about Chicken & Biscuits instead, with 68 grams of saturated fat? Yes, that is more than four days worth of saturated fat (for a 2,000 a day diet, <16 grams a day is suggested).

Right now you can usually request the nutritional information at chain restaurants and someone will point you to or produce a pamphlet, but the information is not apparent. The idea of having those nutritional facts printed clearly on menus is meeting some serious resistance from the restaurant industry. I wonder why?

Public health advocates however are pushing hard to get this information in front of consumers hoping that people will make healthier choices when faced with the facts! The Senate supported a federal labeling law last month as part of comprehensive health-care reform, but we shall see what happens when it all comes to a vote.

Until then, it would be good to know when ordering – and passing on these facts to our teens who are likely to be eating out.

This post, Would You Like A Bigger Butt With Those Fries?, was originally published on Healthine.com by Nancy Brown, Ph.D..

Is High Fructose Corn Syrup Worse Than Sugar?

July 6th, 2009 by admin in Better Health Network
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Have you noticed that many products on grocery shelves are bragging that they do not have high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)? HFCS has been demonized by many people in the public as well as the medical community in recent years. But how much different is it from just plain old sugar? The answer is up for debate, but I will do my best to present the facts.

HFCS has been used for many years, but the use really became much more common in the 1980’s. Food companies use it because it makes a desirable end product and is fairly cheap. HFCS comes from corn and is refined to get the sweet taste into a syrup. But is it worse than sugar?

Many experts believe it is no different than sugar. Both are high in calories and are considered “empty” calories, meaning they don’t have vitamins, minerals, or other healthy nutrients in significant quantities.

The American Medical Association and other scientists have agreed that both sugar and HFCS both contribute to risks of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other illnesses if eaten in large quantities. In other words, there is no proof to date that HFCS is more harmful than sugar.

So why are so many companies eliminating HFCS? It is all consumer perception. Consumers have heard that HFCS bad so companies are spending time and money eliminating it from it’s products? What are they using instead? Sugar.

Is HFCS natural? The Corn Refiners Association says that HFCS is natural. The FDA does not define the term “natural” so we really have no way of seeing whether something is natural on a food label. Food companies can use this word without repercussion from the FDA since they have not defined it.

For more information on HFCS, check out www.sweetsurprise.com

This post, Is High Fructose Corn Syrup Worse Than Sugar?, was originally published on Healthine.com by Brian Westphal.

Get Your Fruit On

June 26th, 2009 by admin in Better Health Network
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Get Your Fruit On! I love this new tagline from Tropicana. Statistics show that 7 out of 10 Americans are not getting enough fruit in their daily diets. The Dietary Guidelines encourage us to get 2 cups of fruit per day. For those who do get their fruit, many are getting it from 100% orange juice.

Children are especially susceptible to not getting enough fruit. An 8 ounce glass of 100% orange juice has:

2 servings of fruit

120% of Vitamin C

13% of Potassium

15% of Folic Acid

No Sugar Added

110 Calories

Tropicana is actually donating up to a quarter of a million fruit servings in the form of Tropicana Pure Premium 100% orange juice to the USDA Summer Food Service Program and the School Breakfast Program. Both programs offer free or reduced price nutritious meals to children in low- income areas. Tropicana did this by getting 5,000 Americans to pledge to increase their fruit intake.

Other tips to Get Your Fruit On (courtesy of Elizabeth Ward, RD):

• Add in-season fruit to your morning bowl of oats or cereal.
• Blend a smoothie using your favorite fresh or frozen fruit and a cup of OJ
• Create a breakfast trail mix by combining dried fruit, nuts, and cereal. You can also use this as a snack.
• Assemble breakfast fruit kabobs using pineapple chunks, bananas, grapes, and berries.
• Drink a glass of 100% fruit juice at breakfast.

This post, Get Your Fruit On, was originally published on Healthine.com by Brian Westphal.

Is Soy Safe?

June 17th, 2009 by admin in Better Health Network, Health Tips
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I have had several people recently ask me about whether eating foods from soy is harmful. Some have asked because they have a thyroid problem and heard that soy interferes with their synthroid, others are worried about breast cancer, and most recently I guess some negative press has been writing about men and soy. Let me try to set the record straight.

What is soy?
All soy foods come from soybeans. Soy has a high protein content as well as carbs, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and some healthy fats. Soy is an excellent source of plant-based protein because it is known as a “complete protein” meaning it contains all of the essential amino acids. Whole soy is best, meaning it has been minimally processed and you are getting the naturally occurring nutrients found in the soybean. Foods that contain whole soy are edamame, soynuts, and surprisingly a bar called SOYJOY. Tofu and soymilk are also great sources of soy.

Health Benefits/Dispelling Myths
Numerous health benefits of soy have been very well documented in literature. In addition, many myths about soy have been dismissed with research studies.

Heart health: Soy is cholesterol free, low in saturated fat, and contains healthy fats. Some evidence also shows that it helps to lower LDL, or “bad” cholesterol.
Breast cancer: A high soy intake during puberty has been shown to reduce breast cancer risk, but consuming it as an adult has not been linked to lowering risk. Some animal studies have connected soy isoflavones with breast cancer growth, but no data on humans has supported this. In fact, some studies show a favorable impact on breast cancer outcomes with soy. Check with your physician before taking a soy isoflavone supplement. The American Cancer Society suggests that up to 3 servings of soyfoods per day is safe for a breast cancer survivor.
Bone health: Soybeans and calcium-fortified soyfoods are good choices because of the soy isoflavones as well as calcium and Vitamin K which can help bone mineralization.
Menopause: Over 50 studies have examined whether soy can relieve hot flashes in menopause and the consensus is that it may for many women but it depends on hot many hot flashes you get and how much soy isoflavone is taken.
Reproduction: No human data shows that consuming soy causes abnormal testosterone or estrogen levels. Several studies found no affect on sperm or semen when consuming soy isoflavones.
Thyroid: A comprehensive review of literature concluded that soy does not adversely affect thyroid function. Researchers recommended that thyroid function be reassessed if there is a large increase or decrease in soy intake, but normal day-to-day variations are unlikely to affect normal thyroid function.

Good for the Planet
Soy is environmentally friendly. The amount of fossil fuel to process soybeans is estimated to be 6-20 times less than that used to produce meat.

Bottom line
Soy foods can be part of a healthy diet for men and women. Eating 2-3 servings per day of soy foods is safe and very healthy. Soy contains important protein, amino acids, fiber, calcium, potassium, zinc, iron, and folic acid.

For more information:
www.soyconnection.com
www.soyjoy.com

This post, Is Soy Safe?, was originally published on Healthine.com by Brian Westphal.