Kids' meals from Canadian chain restaurants are exceedingly high in calories, fats, and sodium: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Due to the increased prevalence of eating outside-the-home, alongside high rates of childhood obesity, the objective of this study was to analyze the nutritional quality of kids' meals (including main entrées with accompanying side dishes, desserts and beverages) from Canadian fast-food (FFR) and sit-down restaurant (SDR) chains. Methods: Data (serving size, calories, fat, saturated fat, trans fat, sodium and fibre) for 3,235 meals were obtained in 2010 from the websites of 7 SDRs and 10 FFRs of the 35 chains with more than 20 outlets in Canada and offering kids' meals. T-tests were used to compare nutrient levels from SDR and FFR. Results: On average, SDR meals had larger serving sizes compared to FFR meals (628 g vs. 562 g). As a result, SDR meals contained significantly higher amounts of calories (846 kcal vs. 737 kcal) and saturated fat (12 g vs. 8 g) (p < 0.0001). More than 50 % of kids' meals from SDR and 35 % of meals from FFR exceeded 1,200 mg of sodium - the daily Adequate Intake for children aged 4-8 years. SDR meals had 41 % and 13 % of total calories coming from fat and saturated fat, while FFR had 37 % and 10 %, respectively. However, standardized comparisons of meals calculated per 100 g showed that FFR had significantly higher (p < 0.001) amounts of calories (244 vs 185 kcal/100 g) and sodium (538 vs 381 mg/100 g) compared to SDR. Conclusion: These results illustrate that addressing the poor nutritional quality of restaurant kids' meals should be a major public health priority.