Do parents let their kids eat fast food?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Aren't there now healthier options at places like McDonalds, Burger King and Wendys? I get the sense that the grilled chicken sandwiches weren't all that bad, and they now have options like carrot sticks and apple slices instead of fries. Seems to me, an occasional meal like that won't hurt anyone. Everything in moderation. Plus it takes away the "forbidden fruit" issue and could be a teaching moment about making the healthier choice . . . .

My kids have had their share of fast food, but I agree that there are options at those places that are more healthy. I find Wendys to be the best as to choices - with a meal you can get fries of course, but you can also get a side salad, mandarin oranges, or a baked potato. When we go there with my 1 year old - he gets the beans and meat from their chili and the mandarin oranges cup. No, it is not home cooking, but it is not that bad. Certainly no worse than take out pizza or most Chinese food. I agree with everything in moderation.

[Anonymous]

DD does not, but she is only 16 mos. My theory is that when she gets older she is going to be asking for it and I will deal with it then, but why give it to her when she doesn't know the difference? DH and I rarely eat it. Growing up, McDonald's was a "treat" that we had on occasion, and I am going to try to do the same with dd. It is unrealistic to think that I will be able to control all her food choices as she grows up and I don't want her to be a social outcast, either.

[Anonymous]

I think it's really 2 different worlds/environments for those that live in DC vs. the surrounding burbs. If you're driving around, sometimes the convenience of fast food is huge - while that's not the case for those less apt to drive in DC. On foot, I would never seek out fast food; looking for a quick place to grab something while on the road, though, makes it much more conveninent. For me, the drive-through factor is HUGE! I'd be happy to frequent healthier places if they also had fast food options to take out the unload/load kids hassle from a quick stop.

I also have the utmost admiration for those that enjoy cooking & gardening. I HATE both. Making meals is certainly a chore for me, not a pleasure.

[Anonymous]

I think fast food is easier access than in DC. In DC, we rarely if never ate ff bc there weren't any such places near our house. Now that we live in the burbs, we eat ff about 2-3 times a month, not a whole lot but more than previously.

[Anonymous]

Totally agree that if you reside in the District of Columbia, like I do, the question of 'do we or don't we?' is nearly moot. We never eat classic fast food because I don't know where to find it -- not because of some considered philosophy I have.

But, when Mom is spent, we certainly DO eat crap that I'm sure is every bit as unhealthful and inhumane. Take-out Chinese, take-out Thai, take-out Indian .... oh! Tex Mex and/or Salvadoran. Rocklands, anyone?

[Anonymous]

I use fast food as a treat. Mostly we eat at home , at the table with everyone there. We also sometimes eat at Wendy's or McDonalds. So what, we also watch TV, listen to rock, rap and classical. Everything in moderation. I have friends that let their children eat fast food all the time, but they are still my friends because I do not pick my friends on what they feed their children.

[Anonymous]

Single mom in nearby urban suburb here.

I cook a lot. We're vegetarians. I hate McDonalds with a passion and my kid says "ew" when we pass one. We're usually healthy people. But, there is at least one night in any given week where I give up and order pizza. If there were a place that had drive-through veggie burgers I would be all over it. If there were a place that delivered a margarita and somebody to do the dishes and laundry with the pizza, I would be all over that, too.

[Anonymous]

My daughter ate McDonalds yesterday. She definitely loves McDonalds, and gets it about once a month. I'm not worried or distressed about this. She eats a varied diet, excercises a ton, and is height/weight healthy.
I ate a McDonald's sundae as well, and man, it was good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would be curious where people draw the line with "fast food." Is it just McDonalds, Five Guys, and others that you go to a counter and order? Does Chicken Out fall into that category? What about every chain restaurant out there, which is not technically fast food, but where the kids' menus typically consist of burgers, chicken fingers, fries, and pizza-- maybe, if you're lucky, there are some nice soaked-in-syrup mandarin oranges?

I'm with the poster who said we need to teach moderation. We don't do much at-the-counter fast food, other than Chicken Out (which we get a couple times a month). McDonald's and others are mainly for road trips. But we do eat out at a chain restaurant with crummy kids' options a couple times a month. I just try to make sure we eat healthy at home, and hope it all balances out.

I think you raise a good point. Now that chain restaurants are required by law to post nutritional information in New York, we are finding some real surprises in our diets. It is easy to see where fast food fails - almost no vegetables, no whole grains, one fried item per order, and red meat. But now we can see that many restaurant meals you would think are healthy are, in fact, really bad for you and sometimes much worse than the fast food options. To me, a high calorie salad, pad thai, or kebab slathered in butter and buttered rice is about the same as a trip to McDonalds, even though they look more appealing.

There is an organization called the Center for Science in the Public Interest. http://www.cspinet.org/ They offer very practical advice on food quality and safety. It is always based on real data and not just sentiment, and they acknowledge that we cannot eat a perfect diet and so tailor their advice to be practical. One of the topics in their newsletter is what they call Right Stuff / Food Porn, where they review at food options for their nutritional value. There are shockers in some of their evaluations. For instance, grilled salmon with spinach orzo pasta found at one restaurant sounds pretty healthy, right? But at 1200 calories per serving? Maybe not. But the Tuscan Ribeye at the same restaurant is 690 calories.

[Anonymous]

Our favorite "fast" food is the salad bar at Whole Foods. I've convinced my daughter that if food doesn't (1) make you grow, (2) keep you healthy, or (3) help you poop, it's not worth eating. She's nine now, and even though we had plenty of stops at McD's through the years, we almost never go anymore. Even when we did, all I would get is coffee, and turn up my nose at the food. So she kind of picked that up from me eventually. She still likes to eat it occasionally, but it's never her first choice. Her little brother is on a very restricted diet for medical reasons, so we've also had to take his food along with us.

[zumbamama]

Yes, I am guilty. I have weakness for French Fries. I cook, DH cooks, lots of home-cooked Filipino food every week...but on those super busy days...I cave in to the golden arches...but go work it off the next day. We also eat lots of fruit, nuts, yogurt, healthy stuff. Our philosophy is everything in moderation.

[Anonymous]

My son thinks sweet potatoes are a dessert. I can bribe him to eat his veggies with a promise of sweet potato at the end. He's 3.

I know very well that he will one day eat fast food, but I hope that I have poured a strong foundation when he decides to eventually return to his roots.

I remember when I was between 18-20 I ate a whopper w/ cheese just about every day. I have not eaten fast food in years and am actually now into slow food too as a PP mentioned. My mom raised us on a whole food diet and nutrition was a common dinner table topic of discussion. Once I hit my mid 20's and became concious of my own health, I remembered what my mom had taught us and went back to the way I used to eat growing up, which is a primarily plant based diet and just about home made everything. I hope to give the same gift to my children.

[Anonymous]

11:23, I completely agree with you. The drive-thru factor is huge. If there were other, healthier drive-thru options I would do it in a hearbeat. We occasionally do McDonalds but never sit and eat in the restaurant... it's purely for the convenience of the drive-thru. If I'm planning to sit down to eat, it's just as easy to go someplace else. I'm also a big believer in everything in moderation and have no problem with my kids eating McDonalds from time to time.

[Anonymous]

Sure. I like fast food. I consider burgers and fries to be part of my cultural heritage. But just as I don't eat spaghetti and meatballs every day, or homemade-spinach-lasagne every day, or salade nicoise every day, I sure don't eat Burger King every day. It's just sort of in the rotation, maybe once a month. I'd be pretty embarrassed if my child said "ew" when passing a McDonald's. What a negative, judgmental way to raise a little person.

[Anonymous]

PP here... business idea... drive-thru organic kids' meals! Would make a fortune in these parts.