Do you worry about too much fast food?
Do Happy Meals make kids fat? That’s what we asked at Twitter after reading this recent Los Angeles Times article, about a Silicon Valley county in California informing McDonald’s of its intent to sue if toys are not banned from McDonald’s Happy Meals.
And we just knew that you’d have something to say. Thanks to all of you who had something to say via Twitter and our Facebook page. For instance, Jenni of Dearest Me says in her recent post about Healthy Eating that it’s time for parents to “stop blaming the fast food restaurants, and start taking some responsibility.”
She’s certainly a single mom role model when it comes to feeding her kids: “Breakfast is accompanied by fruit. Lunch and dinner have vegetables. Sometimes lunch or dinner is just a salad. YES, my kids eat salad! And guess what? They love it! Put some chicken on top, and you have a meal.”
If you’ve been reading here for any length of time, you know that both of us promote healthy eating and exercise for your kids — and you! You’ve shared your own thoughts with us about nutrition. But don’t get us wrong. Our kids have eaten fast food. (Jenni comes clean about this, too.) We both recall long car rides with hungry kids, and the occasional guilty stop for a Happy Meal. We also admit to having stopped at fast food restaurants more more once to let our kids play in the indoor playground… so we could get a 10-minute break as the kids played. So, we’re not judging you.
We are curious, however. Do you co-parent with an ex who takes the kids out for fast food for at least one weekend meal? Maybe your ex doesn’t cook. Or, maybe he’s looking for something that will feed and entertain the little ones — and usually there is the opportunity for some conversation, especially if you can talk above the noise and kid confusion.
Or, perhaps you’re a time-hassled mom who sometimes turns to franchise fast food when you’re stressed. After a long day at work, the drive through might be an occasional easy, fast stop on the way home. And you know that your child will choose chicken nuggets over your veggie casserole any day.
We’d love to know:
What’s your fast food for kids policy?
Is fast food never an option? An occasional treat? Or is fast food a regular part of your family routine?
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(Photo courtesy of Timothee R.)
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Twitter @ notsosinglemama
The majority of the time we eat at home. I make sure that there is a fruit or vegetable with every meal. I try to stay away from products with sugar and food coloring. But my son loooves mcdonalds fries and I let him eat them occaissionaly. I believe in things in moderation.
Twitter @ starkravingmadM
We do eat fast food sometimes, usually when we’re traveling or when doctor’s appointments or something make it difficult for me to make dinner on time. We never get soda, though.
I grew up going to McD’s with my Weekend Dad, and I have extremely fond memories of doing that. I understood that it was a treat, something my dad did to make our small time together more fun.
My blog post today is actually about going to Chick-fil-A. Actually it’s about the play area at Chick-fil-A turning into Lord of the Flies.
Twitter @ DoktaDivah
Our meals are 99% well-balanced and healthy – and cooked from scratch. I want my boys interested in cooking and to recognize what they’re eating. But, we do have out Friday night ritual movies and pizza (sometimes I bake from scratch, sometimes Papa John’s, frozen in a pinch). I value that time, and I instill in them that junk food is ok as an occasional snack, as long as we’re heavily leaning on the healthy side. The good news is that they will regularly (with no prodding from me!) reject cake or sweets in favor of fruit and/or my other homemade goodies.
Then again, when offered the chance to pick a “restaurant” for a meal, Mickey D’s is almost always the choice. Can’t win em all…
Lisa R.´s last blog ..BWB Part 2- The Comedy
Twitter @ reluctantX
This is a really interesting question. Since my children’s mother filed for divorce, she’s been cooking a great deal less for the family, and that worries me for two reasons. One is that it’s not healthy for the kids; the other is that I know nothing about cooking, so *I* wanted to be the ones to offer them fast food, frozen pizza, et al when they’re with me to skate by until I can learn. I have three hungry boys who range from very picky to I’ll-eat-anything-that’s-not-nailed-down-or-painted-gray, so this is a matter of some concern to me. Guess I’d better put cooking classes higher on my list of post-divorce priorities.
reluctantX´s last blog ..Drawing the line on emotional involvement
Twitter @ http://mommasunshine.wordpress.com
My children are 5 and 7 and have NEVER eaten at McDonald’s. They have, on occasion, eaten fast food french fries, but this happens only a couple of times a year. We eat at home all the time, as they do with their dad. We both believe strongly that good eating habits are built from childhood, and we have been very clear with them in terms of what we consider ‘acceptable’ foods. My kids have also never eaten things like hot dogs or mac & cheese out of box. We believe in real, good food.
At this point, given the choice, I know that my girls, knowing what they know about healthy eating, would enthusiastically pass on eating at McDonald’s.
Momma Sunshine´s last blog ..Self-Reliance
Twitter @ http://mommasunshine.wordpress.com
…further to that, I’ll add that my kids have only ever even once stepped inside a McDonald’s, and it was to use the bathroom. My oldest daughter didn’t even want to do that! lol
Momma Sunshine´s last blog ..Self-Reliance
Twitter @ martinimom
My son was 2 when his dad and I split up. Quite often, my ex would forget to feed our son altogether, but when he did remember it was ALWAYS fast food. I found myself with a toddler who could easily identify McDonald’s, Jack in the Box, and Taco Bell by their signs, and would shout them out gleefully as we drove down the street.
I’m certainly not perfect, either. I spent many years as a single mom working 70 hour work weeks in a very demanding job, which left me with very little energy for cooking healthy dinners. But my fall back was always to simple healthy meals, NOT fast food. For example, we always had vegetables, but sometimes I skipped cooking them.
I have lots of conversations with my son about healthy eating and the reasons that we avoid fast food. He understands that every once in a while, a less than healthy meal is ok. And at this point, he’s telling his dad that they shouldn’t eat fast food so often.
Martini Mom´s last blog ..Ode to a pseudo step-dad
Twitter @ fearless1mom
I work sometimes six days a week, and I never take my kids to McDonald’s, unless we’re on a road trip. (My kids don’t have visitation with the ex.) It would be very easy to take my kids there, since there’s one on the corner, within walking distance of my house, but I’ve learned to keep some quick meal staples around, in case I’ve had a day when I’m just not up to cooking. Plus, dollar menu or not, fast food can add up when you eat it day after day!
Even something like breakfast-for-dinner (sometimes just eggs and toast, or we have cereal night), or bean and cheese nachos (I make a bag of dried beans all at once in the crockpot, and always have multigrain chips and blocks of cheese in the house. Not that I think bean and cheese nachos are healthy, but at least I know that my beans aren’t fried, and they don’t have anything in them but beans and some seasoning…no lard or chemicals.) My kids are young enough to think it’s fun to have raw veggies with a couple of different dips, with cheese and crackers or finger sandwiches. (My five year old calls it “tea party food”.)
We also have a garden in our front yard, so the kids know when something is ripe ripe, pick it, and we figure out what to do with it for dinner. I think watching it grow somehow makes it taste better.
I try hard to give my kids home-cooked, super-healthy meals, but sometimes I’m just not up to it. But a PB&J and veggies with dips is still healthier than fried chicken and french fries. I think the key isn’t being perfect, but being better than fast food.
Naturally Single Mom´s last blog ..Jealous- ornot
When we go to the mall and have lunch there, all the kids are lining up for McDonalds and my 5yo asks for sushi. Which makes me very proud. She is also so brainwashed by my constant talking about the importance of healthy eating that she will actually commplain about not getting veggies at her dad’s place. He usually gives her fast food too. Which isn’t fair because I think it’s ok for my daughter to have something unhealthier for lunch or dinner once a week, but as I’m the one cooking her healthy, nutritional meals the whole week, every week, it would only be right if I could be the one benefitting from that little break.
Twitter @ aljolynn
I’m not so much guilty of the fast food eating rather than I am of the quick chicken nugget or pizza “fall back.” If we do eat at McDonald’s I usually order the fruit and yogurt……..and sometimes fries! The Mancub looooooves french fries.
But I often get caught up in my work that by the time it’s time to pick up the Mancub from daycare I haven’t even given any thought to dinner. So I usually have those dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets, tater tots/or fries and a few boxes of frozen pizza for those days that I don’t have anything healthy to quickly put together. OR I do breakfast for dinner. Though he’ll usually eat his dinners very well, he usually won’t eat them unless I include tangerines on the plate. That’s really frustrating. He won’t eat his veggies with me but he will at daycare. That’s even more frustrating.
Restless Mama´s last blog ..Are you happy
Twitter @ canadianbaldguy
Well…I`ll admit it…I`m a HORRIBLE parent when it comes to feeding my son.
I have him twice a week for supper and every other weekend, and because I run to pick him up after work and race home to have some quality time with him before taking him back to his mom`s house, I stop at Wendy`s or McDonald`s and pick up a kids meal.
Mornings are fruits and breads. Lunch is usually meat and potatoes. But racing home after work twice a week usually ends up in fast food.
Canadian Bald Guy´s last blog ..The Cactus
Twitter @ EATDRINKDIVORCE
When I was newly separated…before the actual divorce. I was devastated by the break-up of my marriage. It was a very difficult time. Fast food restaurants were a GOD send. I couldn’t do much else. Trust me I knew what I was doing was not the absolute best, but it was HOT, seemingly decent and FAST! I realized that I needed to do something different…better and nutritionally sound for me and my kids. I reconnected to cooking. I fell back in love with preparing good meals…made with love and care and peace.
Do we still eat at fast food joints? Yes! But I am no longer on first name basis with the staffs LOL! Fast Food restaurants are only part of the obesity problem, the biggest piece rests with parents, schools and communities in general. We are all racing around with priorities that don’t connect us back to home, family and well balanced meals. Everything is on the fly…shuttling kids to various activities, not enough money sometimes. We are too tired and too stressed to plan a meal, get it on the table and have EVERYONE eat it. We must make some changes. Own our silent shame and do better.
I created a new blog to speak to this very issue of eating while in the midst of crisis..divorce.
http://www.eatdrinkdivorce.com/2010/04/good-eating-to-you-and-yours.html
Lovebabz´s last blog ..MOJITOS CAN CURE ANYTHING
Twitter @ http://www.singlemommyhood.com
We really appreciate the honesty here, when it comes to feeding your kids healthy, balanced meals in between working and commuting. We get it!
@Restless Mama, the line about your son eating his dinner when you put tangerines on his plate makes us smile…
Twitter @ http://www.singlemommyhood.com
@Naturally Single Mom: It’s so great to hear from you, and here’s to growing your own garden!! We’re super impressed. (And, yes, we understand that a quick dinner might mean a PB&J and veggies with dips… or, a bowl of cereal?)
Twitter @ msjennixoxo
I just have to say I was really thrilled to have my blog quoted and linked to this particular subject. Healthy eating for kids is something I’m really passionate about!
And to follow that up, is my latest blog: Fast Food vs Fast Meals
http://dearestme-singlemom.blogspot.com/2010/07/fast-food-vs-fast-meals.html
It kind of follows what Naturally Single Mom said – making some quick and easy can also be made healthy, and not take much time and effort.
Jenni´s last blog ..Im Ready
It can be very difficult to constantly make healthy meals for the family, especially as a working single parent. I usually try to buy ready meals with some nutritional value. However, since McDonalds have introduced healthier childrens meals (e.g. Happy Meals with fruit) I have felt much better about taking my children to eat there, especially because there’s a fantastic play area for them to exercise in!