Kids' cuisine: "what would you like with your fries?" - Eating Out

Nutrition Action Healthletter, March, 2004 by Jayne Hurley, Bonnie Liebman

Macaroni & Cheese (Cracker Barrel)

Some chains--like Bennigan's, Big Boy, and Coco's--serve Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. Others, like Cracker Barrel, pride themselves on home cooking. They use Velveeta.

That ups the saturated-plus-trans fat to 16 grams--about a day's worth. As if that weren't bad enough, the sodium hits 1,100 mg (close to half a day's limit).

Kids may start out with normal blood pressure, but odds are it will creep up as they get older. By the time they bit 60, half of those adorable tykes may need drugs to lower their blood pressure.

Cheeseburger (Outback Steakhouse)

No Happy-Meal-sized cheeseburger at a steakhouse like Outback. Its quarter-pound Boomerang Cheese Burger delivers 470 calories, 940 milligrams of sodium, and a day's worth of saturated-plus-tram fat (18 grams). Think of it as the 12-ounce sirloin steak the grown-ups are eating ... with three pats of butter melted on top.

Outback's fries are special, too. The company fries in a beef tallow blend, which gives each order 13 grams of saturated-plus-trans fat.

To your heart, that's worse than having a filet mignon with your butter-topped sirloin. Total damage for the Boomerang plus Fries: 840 calories, 1,450 mg of sodium, and close to two days' worth of artery-busting fat. And that's without dessert or the (free) beverage and bread and butter.

Ice Cream Sundae (Outback Steakhouse)

Nearly every kids' menu features an ice cream sundae. At Friendly's and Macaroni Grill, it comes with every meal. The restaurants are only trying to let kids have some fun.

Outback's Spotted Dog Sundae delivers 27 grams of saturated fat and 730 calories' worth of fun. It's a typical sundae--ice cream, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream.

A sundae is one heckuva splurge. No other single item on most kids' menus has 1 1/2 days' worth of artery-clogging fat. At Outback, ordering a sundae is little different than ordering a Boomerang Cheese Burger and Fries.

And kids who eat a cheeseburger, fries, Coke, and sundae will be sitting down to a stunning 1,700 calories and 58 grams of saturated-plus-trans fat. That's 3 1/2 days' worth of artery gunk--even more than an order of fettuccine Alfredo. Shouldn't parents know that their kids are eating a "heart attack on a plate"?

Small Fries

Best Bites have no more than two grams of saturated-plus-trans fat. The chart shows each entree with the side dishes offered on the kids' menu (except for Cracker Barrel, where we picked baby carrots to go with the grilled chicken). The chart also shows a few meals with complimentary beverages. Items are ranked from least to most saturated-plus-trans fat in the main dish. Numbers for the dishes in bold come from independent laboratory analyses.

The information for this article was compiled by Tamar Genger, Heather Jones, and Sarah Wade, with help from Nicole Ferring.