Do 'Happy Meals' toys make kids fat?
A Silicon Valley county wants to ban the plastic trinkets in fast-food kids' meals — claiming the toys seduce children into gluttony
Are children craving fatty fast food just because it comes with a negligible plastic toy? Yes, says Santa Clara County board member Ken Yeager, who wants to ban the bonus toys included with 10 out of 12 high-calorie kids' meals. (Santa Clara was the nation's first county to force local restaurants to list calorie counts on menus, a policy that may go nationwide with Obama's health care bill.) Are Happy Meal toys exacerbating the childhood obesity crisis? (Watch an ABC report about banning toys at fast food chains)
These toy bribes should be banned: It's about time someone dealt with this, says Patty Fisher in the San Jose Mercury News. Fast-food chains "dangling trinkets in front of children" may be "one of America's most sacred traditions," but it's literally killing us. Rewarding kids with a toy for ordering a cheeseburger and fries shapes their "lifelong eating habits."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This reactionary move overlooks parental responsibility: The proposed Santa Clara toy crackdown is reactionary and should be nipped in the bud, says Denise Bertacchi in Examiner.com. "If parents want their kids to slim down, it's their job — not the government's — to "cut back on the cheeseburgers and chicken nuggets." It isn't McDonald's that "drives the kids to the restaurant" and buys them junk food, after all.
"Should Happy Meal toys be banned from your child's fast food meal?"
The food's the problem, not the toys: Any parent having trouble ignoring cries for fast-food toys should check out baby-nutrition blogger Nonna Joann's experiment, says Bethany Sanders at Diet Blog. Joann left a Happy Meal on her office shelf for a year, to see what happened — and what happened was "nothing." No decay, no mold. If "vermin" won't eat junk food, then why are we feeding it to our kids?
"Happy Meal is still 'Happy' one year on"
....................................
SEE MORE OPINION BRIEFS ON THIS TOPIC:
• Too fat for Hollywood?
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
India elections start amid violence, hate speech accusations
Talking Points Narendra Modi seeks a third term while critics worry about the future of the country's democracy
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
'Biden is smart to keep the border-security pressure on'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Bird flu worries mount as virus found in milk, cows
Speed Read The FDA found traces of the virus in pasteurized grocery store milk
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published