obesity in children is a problem all over the world and the fast food giant McDonald’s plans to withdraw cheeseburgers from its popular Happy Meal menu in the United States. The revised health driven menu would cut down on the calories and ensure lesser intake of harmful items like sugar, and fat that are responsible for obesity. The objective is to restrict the meals to as fewer calories as possible by 2022.
Sky News reports that other changes in the menu are the replacement of chocolate milk by water and reduction of fries in the chicken McNugget Mighty Meals for older children.
These changes will provide healthier options, and have already been introduced in the UK.
It is a good initiative
Fast food has become an integral part of today’s lifestyle. People are always on the move, and their eating culture has changed. They patronize brands like McDonald’s who dream up attractive menus for all sections of patrons including children. However, obesity in the younger generation leads to health issues and is a major problem that the brand wants to address. Hence, it has decided to modify its menus keeping in mind the larger interests of society.
McDonald’s used to promote the Happy Meal menu by giving toys to the children. It will now switch over to books instead of toys in 100 of its worldwide markets by the end of 2019.
These could be effective in the United States by June.
Of course, patrons can still have cheeseburgers or chocolate milk with the kids' meal on payment, but removing them from menus is expected to reduce the craze. This logic is backed up by statistics. When fizzy drinks were withdrawn four years ago, its order fell by 14%.
Future plans to contain obesity
McDonald’s is toying with other options to retain its patrons and could introduce items like fruit and vegetables instead of fries to take care of health issues. Such practice exists in other outlets. Spain offers pineapple spears while China, Japan, and Taiwan offer cooked corn. Incidentally, Happy Meals in the UK have removed cheeseburgers and milkshakes from its advertisements.
A study on childhood obesity has revealed that children who live close to fast food outlets tend to gain weight compared to others. According to The Guardian, this has come to light from research undertaken by the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol). It covered a group of more than 1,500 state primary school pupils aged four to 11. The blame for such a situation probably lies in the aggressive marketing techniques of junk food and the proximity of outlets to schools and residences.
