McDonalds for a 4 year old

runawaybishop

Tombo2001 wrote: »

if that was the happy meal the child would go for, then i wouldnt have started the thread.

As regards your comments on Actimel, yes I completely agree. A marketing miracle that it is regarded as 'healthy'.

But the choice was for context.

An alternative. A 17g packet of Snax crisps has 85 calories.

The 616 calorie kids happy meal (ie burger, chips, fiizzy drink) = 7.5 bags of Snax.

Would you give your kid 7.5 bags of Snax in one sitting. Could you call that 'moderation', or ok 'once in a while'.

What's with all the focus on the calories? Its what those calories are made up of thats important.

Rasmus

amiable wrote: »

I have a brother who wouldn't dream of bringing his kids to McDonalds but has no problem bringing them to Supermacs.
It's a strange world we live in. He's adamant that Supermacs isn't as bad for them as McDonalds.

I would have been inclined to believe that too until I saw this :eek:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/nutrition-facts-calories/supermacs

Granted, this just lists calorie content and not nutritional value. It may be the case that Supermacs has less additives etc. I'm having a look.

ncmc

Tombo2001 wrote: »

if that was the happy meal the child would go for, then i wouldnt have started the thread.

As regards your comments on Actimel, yes I completely agree. A marketing miracle that it is regarded as 'healthy'.

But the choice was for context.

An alternative. A 17g packet of Snax crisps has 85 calories.

The 616 calorie kids happy meal (ie burger, chips, fiizzy drink) = 7.5 bags of Snax.

Would you give your kid 7.5 bags of Snax in one sitting. Could you call that 'moderation', or ok 'once in a while'.

But your not comparing like with like here, you're comparing a packet of snax, which are a snack and will not fill the child up, with a happy meal, which is an entire dinner. Of course a snack is going to have a lot less cals than a dinner!

In order to be accurate, you would need to compare the happy meal with the childs normal dinner. I would assume the calorie difference would not be so great in this comparison.

I would be in the 'everything in moderation' camp. I don't have kids, but I have brought my neices to McD's and they enjoy it. As previous posters said, it's not even about the food, it's more the toy and the experience they enjoy, especially if the McD's has a play area. Once every couple of months won't harm them.

Rasmus

And in relation to the original post - advertising junk food to children on television and radio will be banned from next year: Newstalk.

http://www.newstalk.ie/2012/featured-5-slideshow-homepage/lunchtime-binge-childrens-junk-food-adverts-banned-from-2013/

Some of the types of food and drink whose promotion to children will be restricted:
French fries, most pizzas, mayonnaise, cola and other carbonated sweetened drinks, most sausages and burgers.

Ayla

I just started another thread on that very ban

Tombo2001

ncmc wrote: »

But your not comparing like with like here, you're comparing a packet of snax, which are a snack and will not fill the child up, with a happy meal, which is an entire dinner. Of course a snack is going to have a lot less cals than a dinner!

.

But I'm not comparing it with one bag of snax, I'm comparing it with 7.5 bags of snax....which is calorific equivalent to the average happy meal for kids.

That will fill the child up.

And I would be making the assumption that the nutritional value of 7.5 bags of snax is not much different to the nutritional value of a happy meal (of burger, chips, 7up).

(And I take the point on nuggets and apple.....but I mentioned in the op, the childs words were "McDonalds is the place where you get burgers").

I feel like I'm coming across as some nutbag here the way people are reacting, when all I'm doing is highlighting what McDonalds food (as we know it - ie burgers and chips and fizzy drink) actually is.

runawaybishop

ncmc wrote: »

But your not comparing like with like here, you're comparing a packet of snax, which are a snack and will not fill the child up, with a happy meal, which is an entire dinner. Of course a snack is going to have a lot less cals than a dinner!

In order to be accurate, you would need to compare the happy meal with the childs normal dinner. I would assume the calorie difference would not be so great in this comparison.

I would be in the 'everything in moderation' camp. I don't have kids, but I have brought my neices to McD's and they enjoy it. As previous posters said, it's not even about the food, it's more the toy and the experience they enjoy, especially if the McD's has a play area. Once every couple of months won't harm them.

Kids burger + chips + drink = 19g of fat. Snax are 3.6g of fat per bag X 7.5 = 27 grams of fat. Obviously fat content isn't the only thing to consider but going purely by calorie count doesn't mean a fiddlers.

Tombo2001 wrote: »

I feel like I'm coming across as some nutbag here the way people are reacting, when all I'm doing is highlighting what McDonalds food (as we know it - ie burgers and chips and fizzy drink) actually is.

The burgers and chips are fine really, its the drink i dislike my kid having.

Tombo2001

runawaybishop wrote: »

Kids burger + chips + drink = 19g of fat. Snax are 3.6g of fat per bag X 7.5 = 27 grams of fat. Obviously fat content isn't the only thing to consider but going purely by calorie count doesn't mean a fiddlers.

.

I would counter that with, what is the sugar content in snax vs a fizzy drink....

both are pure crap, just a question of how it is served up.

runawaybishop

Tombo2001 wrote: »

I would counter that with, what is the sugar content in snax vs a fizzy drink....

both are pure crap, just a question of how it is served up.

0 if you choose coke zero

Ayla

Tombo2001 wrote: »

...I'm doing is highlighting what McDonalds food (as we know it - ie burgers and chips and fizzy drink) actually is.

Actually, that's the McD's as we knew it from our younger days. They've worked quite hard in recent years to improve their nutrition. Thus their inclusion of fruit/milk/water instead of chips & fizzy drinks. Again, it all comes down to your personal choice if you choose to go there. And no, I'm not in anyway affiliated w/ McD's, just trying to highlight the fact that they are not the bane of nutrition that they used to be.

amiable

Tombo2001 wrote: »

I have no gripe against McDonalds as a corporate entity.

I dont like the food that is sold in fast food chains.

Now in response, please dont suggest that I have a gripe against them, because in my view that suggests some sort of personal issue I might have with the company, or that I have another agenda; and that is unfair to me.

Again, as with the hard drugs comment.....why is it not possible to have a conversation about the calorific content of fast food without a "you have a gripe against McDonalds" comment....

Perhaps you should re read my original post on this. I didn't say you have a gripe with McDonalds

amiable

Tombo2001 wrote: »

I feel like I'm coming across as some nutbag here the way people are reacting, when all I'm doing is highlighting what McDonalds food (as we know it - ie burgers and chips and fizzy drink) actually is.

It's funny you post this after your opening post below

Tombo2001 wrote: »

We have places that we go for Burgers and Chips such as GBK or Bobo, and I suggested there. But he said no, he wants McDonalds. I think someone at his new school must have spoken about it.

Now personally, I hate McDonalds. I hate it. I have visions of putting spoons of lard into my stomach when I drive past it.

However..... I liked it when I was a kid.

What does the book of good parenting say to do in this situation?

You claim to have no gripe with McDonalds but in your opening post you state you hate it twice.

At this stage I'm not sure what advise you are looking for or are you just looking to educate us that McDonalds is not good for our kids?

pwurple

Tombo2001 wrote: »

An alternative. A 17g packet of Snax crisps has 85 calories.

The 616 calorie kids happy meal (ie burger, chips, fiizzy drink) = 7.5 bags of Snax.

Would you give your kid 7.5 bags of Snax in one sitting. Could you call that 'moderation', or ok 'once in a while'.

Tombo2001 wrote: »

We've been discussing the calorie content of McDonalds happy meals, not bloody syringes and methadone.

Why is it not possible to have a discussion about childrens nutrition without this sort of comment.

Tombo2001, I would take this slightly more seriously if you used the actual calories instead from the source, instead of the exaggerated propoganda versions and if you compared it to something more rational.

A 285cal meal of chicken nuggets, apple slices, chips and milk has fruit, protein and a few vits and mins. It also has salt and other crap, but it's not as bad as a either a packet of crisps or a sugar-laced actimel multiplied by whatever number you chose.

We are omnivores. It's not too hard to know what to eat for our biology. Vary the diet. Lots of different things, and not too much of any one thing. That rule will get you through most problems. It drives me nuts to hear the list of things that people restrict in their own or their childrens diets. I know people who have their children on lactose free, sugar-free, wheat free diets from birth, on no medical advice, but because they perceive those things to be bad. My child has an allergy, and I do my very best to make sure she eats every other thing possible.

And 10 servings of anything is pure daftness. I know a guy who was surprised to hear he had a cavity in every tooth in his head at age 21. He thought he had a great diet. On further quizzing, it turned out he ate 7 apples every single day. He had latched onto apples being good, and decided that was going to be his path to health. All that sugar and acid. Cripes. 1 apple a day is the advice, not 7!

So, 4 chicken nuggets, milk and the tiny handful of chips a 4 year old is going to eat, at a friends birthday party is not going to harm them.

ncmc

Tombo2001 wrote: »

But I'm not comparing it with one bag of snax, I'm comparing it with 7.5 bags of snax....which is calorific equivalent to the average happy meal for kids.

That will fill the child up.

And I would be making the assumption that the nutritional value of 7.5 bags of snax is not much different to the nutritional value of a happy meal (of burger, chips, 7up).

(And I take the point on nuggets and apple.....but I mentioned in the op, the childs words were "McDonalds is the place where you get burgers").

I feel like I'm coming across as some nutbag here the way people are reacting, when all I'm doing is highlighting what McDonalds food (as we know it - ie burgers and chips and fizzy drink) actually is.

I don't think you're coming across as a nut job, but your OP was asking what other parents think about taking kids to McDonalds, now you're saying that you're point was about how bad the food is there.

Everyone knows that McDonalds is bad for kids, just like we know that chocolate, sweets, crisps and fizzy drinks are bad for them. But the fact is that kids do enjoy it, they enjoy the experience, so what’s the harm in allowing it every so often? Just like the occasional bar of chocolate or packet of crisps won’t do them any harm and in fact, can remove some of the mystique about it and prevent them binging in later life.

Also, McDonalds have made efforts in recent years to include more healthy options, your example of 616 calories, is the worst case scenario. You said yourself your child only wanted a burger (250 cals) even if you added chips (230 cals) and a fruit shoot (10 cals) that comes in at 490 cals. If you gave your child a dinner of pasta, sauce and cheese, it probably wouldn’t be much less calorie wise! McD’s isn’t totally nutrionally barren, there is protein in the burger, fibre in the chips

SandyRamp

IMO there is absolutely nothing wrong with bringing a child to McD's now and again. When I bring my daughter there, she is FAR more interested in the toy she is getting in the box than the actual meal. 9 times out of 10 she doesn't even eat half of the food!

Making a big issue out of it with the child will only cause further problems, I have seen this first hand. I have a close relative who never let her kids eat at any fast food restaurants, would count calories etc. of everything they put in their mouths. This resulted in both of her kids absolutely gorging to the point of sickness whenever they weren't with her. Her eldest child is now 14 and is showing real signs of an eating disorder

If your child has an otherwise healthy balanced diet, there is no harm in the occasional visit. Denying it will only make your child more curious about it and want to experience it even more. At least if you bring your child you have some control over what they have there.

Seriously though, I wouldn't worry about it, there are far worse things around than the odd McD's! Relax, OP!

pickarooney

Why is it a treat though? What's special about McDonald's food that they don't get with food from home or somewhere else? It's not even marketed as quality food, just something quick and disposable. I don't get why anyone sees a burger as a treat

Rasmus

pickarooney wrote: »

Why is it a treat though? What's special about McDonald's food that they don't get with food from home or somewhere else? It's not even marketed as quality food, just something quick and disposable. I don't get why anyone sees a burger as a treat

Because kids like the taste? They get a crappy toy? Did you not have McD when you were young?

SandyRamp

pickarooney wrote: »

Why is it a treat though? What's special about McDonald's food that they don't get with food from home or somewhere else? It's not even marketed as quality food, just something quick and disposable. I don't get why anyone sees a burger as a treat

In my experience anyway, it isn't the actual food that is the big attraction. It is more so the toy, balloon, colouring pages, play area etc. that my daughter loves. She rarely if ever eats all or even half of the food. It is just something different every once in a while.

Rasmus

SandyRamp wrote: »

In my experience anyway, it isn't the actual food that is the big attraction. It is more so the toy, balloon, colouring pages, play area etc. that my daughter loves. She rarely if ever eats all or even half of the food. It is just something different every once in a while.

I've bought a happy meal before and been left with a half-eaten burger, a pile of cold fries and a delighted kid with a plastic toy!

SandyRamp

Rasmus wrote: »

I've bought a happy meal before and been left with a half-eaten burger, a pile of cold fries and a delighted kid with a plastic toy!

Sounds familiar!

ncmc

pickarooney wrote: »

Why is it a treat though? What's special about McDonald's food that they don't get with food from home or somewhere else? It's not even marketed as quality food, just something quick and disposable. I don't get why anyone sees a burger as a treat

I consider McDonald's a treat and I'm 33

Ayla

pickarooney wrote: »

Why is it a treat though? What's special about McDonald's food that they don't get with food from home or somewhere else? It's not even marketed as quality food, just something quick and disposable. I don't get why anyone sees a burger as a treat

That's a good point. We eat out occasionally but never at McD's (easy to do as the closest one is over 40mins away from us). Our kids see eating out as a means to an end: we're out, it's lunchtime & mom/dad has (yet again) failed in insight to pack a lunch. So we try to pick somewhere where they'll get the best food for our budget. It's practically never a chipper we go to, and if we ever do our kids are no more interested in being there than anywhere else we go.

Once I thought I'd "treat" my 5yo w/ McDs as she had to endure a rather unpleasant hospital test. It was probably the first time she'd been there in memory, and she enjoyed it enough, but it didn't really do anything for her that anywhere else wouldn't. She hasn't asked to go back there again, even when we're looking for a lunchstop in the neighborhood.

mariaalice

As a lot of people have said banning anything just make it more attractive to children.

An occasional treat does no harm to a child.


Do you have any idea how much fat salt etc are in the burgers from Bobo or any gourmet burger restaurant, the burgers are very large yet some how you think they are OK and the McD ones are the devil incarnate.


As well as looking after our children's nutrition parent have a responsibility not to pass on their irrational beliefs and ideas.

silverharp

i dont think its the worst, might go to McDs about one a month on average , so to be honest its whats happening on a daily basis is more important. Ours love the Sushi restaurats so that works for us as a treat and to be honest a meal in Milanos for instance will be more unhealthy than a kids meal because the portions are bigger and you tend to order more courses.

Too

I bring my kids (2 & 4) now and then. I love McDonalds but more than that I love how happy it makes them. Its a real treat and something we can do together. The food is no worse than say Dominos or Chinesse take away. Let them live alittle. Everything in moderation.

Tayla

Like another poster mentioned earlier my son is only interested in McDonalds for the toy...which you can buy for around €0.80 by the way!

I can't remember the last time we went to McDonalds, I'd say it's at least a year since we've been there and when we were my son just ate half a burger and didn't touch the chips.

I can't stand McDonalds...the smell is disgusting when you go in the door...it just seems like such an unnatural smell for somewhere that sells food.

I do agree with others though and I don't see too much harm in going there the odd time if you wish...it's what you put into your body the rest of the time that's important but McDonalds is just not for us at all!

Mr Simpson

Why are people comparing McDonalds with giving kids bags of snax or actimels?

It's not the same thing, if you bring your child to McDonalds, you are more than likely replacing a meal that they would be eating at home. Compare the McDonalds calories to the meal at home calories if you want to be accurate. Anyway it is a treat, a child exceeding their calories once in a while won't kill them, it's eating processed food everyday that causes problems.

On the issue of them banning the ads on tv, I'd be much more in favour of them banning giving toys to kids as part of a meal, I think thats a bigger issue.

Tasden

Op i really don't mean this in a patronizing way or to drag the thread off topic but if you say you don't really want to bring your child to mc Donalds then surely there is no need to ask the people of boards what you should do? You're the parent, you get to decide and if you don't want to feed it to him then don't.
I bring my little one every once in a while and its no big deal as far as im concerned, I've no problem whatsoever with how people may feel about that because im her mother, i decide what she eats not my daughters friends at school, not people who think they know better, just me.