Burger King has decided they will no longer put soda on the kids’ menu. You may not have realized it, but McDonald’s and Wendy’s have both dropped sugary soft drinks from their kids’ menus as well.
According to a USA TODAY article, Burger King made the change, “as part of our ongoing effort to offer our guests options that match lifestyle needs.” They will be offering fat-free white milk, apple juice, and low-fat chocolate milk. Technically you can get a soda with a kids’ meal if you ask, but it isn’t in the advertising or on the menu boards.
The group Center for Science in the Public Interest has worked to influence fast food restaurants to change their menu. “It will help children eat better now, as soda is the leading source of calories in children’s diets,” says Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy for the group. “It also helps to set kids on a path toward healthier eating in the future, with fewer kids becoming conditioned to think that soda should be a part of every eating out occasion.”
What do you think about the change? Will it really help kids make better choices about what they eat?
Call me a miser. But I will always be known to my adult children as a slow -food, make-it-from-scratch mom. When we did eat out as a family, it was usually at a real sit-down restaurant. And the kids had water. But occasionally – very occasionally – we grabbed a taco, and less often a burger. Rarely did we buy a soda at a fast food place. If we did, it was DAD who would order a large, and the kids took sips as we passed it around. Not only is soda unhealthy, it’s expensive! For their birthday parties I mixed sparkling water and natural fruit juice. Otherwise, the only time my kids got soda was on New Year’s Eve and the Fourth of July.
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