In Santa Clara, California a bill will take ordinance in 90 days that make the sale of McDonalds Happy Meals ILLEGAL. yes, that's right ILLEGAL! Stores can be fined up to $1,000 if caught selling Happy Meals.
Let's take a step back and look at the real issue here, childhood obesity. Are Happy Meals really to blame for childhood obesity? Not in whole, any educated person knows that. Sure Happy Meals, fried food, chicken fingers from Chili's, school lunch menus and just about every isle in a grocery store is to blame for obesity as a whole. But it's not the child's fault for their obesity. It is their parents.
This issue was brought up the other day during a boot camp I participate in. When a friend of mine, who works for a children and teens fitness center was ordered to take the blood pressure of a 12 year old female. The adult sized band would not properly secure around this child's arm. The 12 year old isn't particularly to blame here, it's her parents. This child can not go to the grocery store by herself to choose fat free Ranch dressing over regular salad dressing, she can't pick up the grapes or yogurt over the potato chips and fruit roll ups. No, her parents do the grocery shopping, they purchase the food there for they are inhibiting their child to accustom poor eating and dietary habits.
When you are 6 years old, crying because your hungry, throwing a temper tantrum because you're exhausted what is your parent going to do, heat up some Tyson chicken nuggets in the microwave, or prepare you baked Alaskan Salmon with an oil and vinegar salad on the side? Reverse the rolls, when your 6 year old is crying, throwing a temper tantrum and all the while you have a migraine, what are you gonna do? Exactly. we'd all opt for the microwavable chicken nuggets.
Back to the illegal Happy Meals, this news cast video (click the back button to return back here after watching the video) says that it is the toys in the Happy Meals that are to blame for childhood obesity. The toys in the Happy Meals aren't to blame for a child eating the french fries or the cheeseburger silly it's choosing to go to McDonald's for dinner. Meanwhile McDonald's and other fast food restaurants offer item substitutions such as apple slices instead of fries, or low fat milk instead of a soda to help stop childhood obesity. These companies are doing everything they can to comply with the ever changing realism of obesity while keeping their heads above water.
Taking a look at the Happy Meal nutrition information, a 4pc Chicken McNugget meal with apple slices, low fat caramel dip and a sprite is 390 calories and 12 grams of fat. Let's take that sprite out and sub it for water or a diet soda, we just took out 140 calories. Now were down to 250 calories. If this child eats 3 Chicken McNugget Happy Meals in one day with a water, and that's it- we're looking at 750 calories.
HOW DOES 750 CALORIES CAUSE CHILDHOOD OBESITY?!
IT DOESN'T!!
Take a look at a Big Mac meal, 540 calories for the sandwich alone, plus you get a medium french fry with that, that's another 380 calories, and let's say you go healthy and opt for a diet coke with 0 calories. That's a whopping 920 calories! And that's just for lunch. I get the nations fear of obesity that's on the rise, but why cut out Happy Meals? Why not cut out the Big Mac, or the Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese (740 calories alone). If they think the toy is so appealing for the children to make bad choices in choosing a greasy fried chicken nugget, first of all why are the parents taking their children there? Secondly, all the major corporations would have to do is change the toy, or take the toy out. A Happy Meal is still a Happy Meal with or without the toy, it's based on size and portions. Change the toy to a dumbell or a workout video, the kids will still crave a cheeseburger from McDonalds and that's a fact.
Therefore, I propose that Santa Clara County of California take a second look at the real causes of childhood obesity and realize it's not the toy, it's the parents.
Let me make a quick real life reference that anyone reading this will understand and most likely agree with. I am 21 years old, my two older sisters, ages 23 and 24, we grew up on the Happy Meal. We also grew up on kickball, swimming, t-ball, climbing trees, roller skating, street hockey, bike rides, etc. I think you get my point. Sure we had Gameboys, Sega, Super Nintendos, but that never stopped us from spending most of our time out doors playing. We weren't exactly upper middle class back then, so expensive food was pretty much out of the picture, Happy Meals were cheap and McDonald's had a play land. What more could a kid ask for? My parents enrolled us in swimming lessons, swim team, baseball leagues, cheer leading, anything and everything active; we didn't worry about childhood obesity back then even though my sisters and I would still feast on the 4pc Chicken McNuggets and fries and we'd probably have a regular soda with that too.
These days, children are packing on the pounds because of convenience. The parent's ARE to blame for this, we all know it, the parent's just don't want to hear it. Again, what's easier and less stressful on you after your 8, 9, 10 hour work day? Sitting your kid down in front of the Xbox Console with Tyson microwavable Chicken Nuggets or teaching them to throw a baseball and getting a 250 calorie Happy Meal afterward?
Happy Meals shouldn't be banned from Children, Parent's stupidity and laziness should.
stoners all over the globe would rise up in defiance if any fast food joint were closed, especially because of some fat ass without self control. (though their form of rising up would be to clean their 'beautiful' piece of choice and their loss of self control is acceptable since it only effects them and not the hungry, cheap masses.)that aside, what of your world and not the groaning one?
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