Starting from today, Happy Meals will include fruits and vegetables.
The recent efforts to reduce obesity among U.S. children have finally started to pay off. NYC lawmakers have adopted the ‘Healthy Happy Meals’ Bill, according to which food manufacturers and food chain owners would have to limit the amount of calories if they sell products for children.
Happy Meal menus are a treat not just for children, but also for adults. Yet, they are incredibly noxious, particularly for children because they contain too many calories and unhealthy products. The legal initiative that NYC lawmakers are sustaining could help make these products more children-appropriate.
Based on the new bill, McDonald’s Happy Meals can only be commercialized if they observe the following rules. According to the new law, the package will have to replace existing ingredients with healthier, more natural ones, such as fruits and vegetables. The entire meal should not contain more than 500 calories and 600 mg. of sodium. Sugars and fats have to be reduced as much as possible, legislators have added.
Health specialists think the method will be effective because children will choose the meal to receive the much-awaited toy. However, parents should also contribute to the cause and make sure that children will eat their vegetables; otherwise, all efforts would be in vain.
Physicians think the bill will reduce children’s caloric intake by 54 calories, that is, by 10 percent. The initiative is highly welcomed as many children are considered obese in the United States, particularly in NYC. 1 in 5 kindergarten pupils are overweight, according to statistics from 2009.
Regulators have tried to introduce the ‘Healthy Meals’ Bill many times before. San Francisco and Santa Clara saw its introduction in 2011, but McDonald’s managed to bypass the law by selling toys separately.
Hopefully, things will be different this time around as lawmakers plan to introduce severe sanctions for those who do not observe the restrictions imposed by the new bill.
Image source: www.fitfashion.fi