Fast food chains tap into health trends with children's breakfast meals

Fast food chains such as McDonalds and KFC are attempting to capture the trend for healthy eating by introducing new ‘healthy kids' menus but despite these initiatives, 74.1 percent of Americans, 68.5 percent of Greeks and 63.8 percent of British adults are overweight.

In a bid to combat the rising levels of childhood obesity, restaurants are offering an increasing range of healthy options according to a July 21 study by Mintel Menu Insights, part of the consumer research group Mintel.

The study found that between the second quarter (2Q) of 2009 and the second quarter (2Q) of 2010, menu items in American fast food chains labeled as healthy grew by 65 percent. Between the 2Q of 2007 and the 2Q of 2010 there was also a 10 percent increase in restaurants offering meals which contained fruits or vegetables.

As consumers become more aware of the effects of obesity, fast food chains such as Burger King and McDonalds are offering a range of items labeled as healthy.

On July 26 Burger King launched its newest ‘healthy‘ breakfast kid's meal. According to the corporation's website, the meal will consist of an egg and cheese muffin sandwich, apple fries and apple juice. The meal meets Burger King's nutrition criteria for kid's meals which states that meals have to contain less than 560 calories. The new ‘breakfast kid's meal' retails at $3.38 (€2.60) and is due to be released in America; a spokesperson for the corporation said that while there were no immediate plans to launch this breakfast in Europe they would monitor the market and make a decision based on what is right for their customers.

However European outlets of the fast food chain Burger King do currently offer items such as carrot sticks in the ‘kid's menu' range.

McDonalds has also launched a range of meals labeled as healthy and aimed at children, including a range of ‘mighty kid's meals' which range from 470-670 calories and include options such as a fruit bag or carrot sticks. 

The recommended daily calorie intake for children between 9-13 years old is 1800 calories for males and 1600 calories for females according to The American Heart Association. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated in 2010 that there are 42 million obese children worldwide; it is thought that the eating habits which lead to childhood obesity will continue into later life.

The latest statistics from the WHO show that in 2007 the Pacific Islands dominated the world's top ten fattest countries. The ten countries containing the largest percentage of the adult population aged 15 years and over defined as medically overweight are: 

Nauru (Pacific Island of ) 94.5%

Micronesia (Federated States of) 91.1%

Cook Islands 90.9%

Tonga   90.8%

Niue      81.7%

Samoa 80.4%

Palau     78.4%

Kuwait 74.2%

United States 74.1%

Kiribati 73.6%

The highest-ranking European country was Greece at number 16 with 68.5 percent; other European countries such as France came number 128 with 40.1 percent of adults overweight and the UK number 28 with 63.8 percent. The countries with the lowest proportion of overweight adults were found on the African continent.