97 percent US food-chains Do Not Meet Nutritional Standards for Kids’ Meals: Report

According to a study by a consumer-advocacy group, 97 percent of major restaurant-chains in the U.S. do not meet nutrition standards set for children's meals.

Restaurants are under constant pressure from the government and health organizations to improve the nutritional value of the snacks they serve to children as Americans spend a big chunk of their money on eating out, reported MedicalXpress.

The group, Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), studied all the combination of main courses, sides and drinks served in the country's major food-chains. They set two standards to check the nutritional value of the food being served. One set of standards was decided by the nutritionists' panel for the study and the other was based on less-stringent standards put forth by Kids LiveWell, a restaurant program.

The norms set by CSPI did not allow the children's meal to cross 430 calories, 35 percent of them from fat and 770 mg of salt, reported MedicalXpress. However, Kids LiveWell standards allowed 600 calories.

The study revealed that only 3 percent of the food-chains that sold children's meals met the standards set by CSPI. It also reported that despite cutting down the size of its French fries and including apples in Happy Meals, McDonald's is one among the many food-chains that does not meet the nutritional rules set by the industry.

Among those who fared well in CSPI's nutritional standards were Red Lobster by Darden Restaurants, an Orlando-based food-chain, Subway and IHOP. According to the report, only 1 percent of the meals at Darden's other restaurant, Olive Garden, met the CSPI standards, but the group pointed out that it also served healthy whole-grain pasta.

"I think what most restaurants have done is just add one or two meals that meet nutrition standards and left the rest of the menu very unhealthy," said Margo Wootan, nutrition policy director at CSPI. "They're still serving up the same old junk they always have."