California chain restaurants may soon offer healthy kids’ meals if Gov. Newsom signs a bill.
CALIFORNIA, USA — Busy California parents may soon have an easier way to feed their kids nutritious meals while on the go, if Gov. Gavin Newsom signs a bill requiring chain restaurants to offer at least one healthy children’s meal.
Senate Bill 764 passed through the Capitol with strong bipartisan support. It would mandate chain restaurants — those that have 20 or more locations — to add a meal that complies with dietary guidelines for children.
“Every child deserves access to healthy, nutritious meals, whether at home or when dining out.” said state senator Akilah Weber Pierson, M.D. (D-San Diego) in a statement. “…By making healthy choices more accessible and visible, this bill helps parents provide balanced nutrition, encourages lifelong healthy eating habits and combats the rising rates of childhood obesity in our communities.”
Hannah Thompson, the director for the University of California Nutrition Policy Institute, says having a healthy meal at chains, especially fast-food places, will help especially the families that have to rush from one thing to another.
“Families are so busy. Parents are slammed. They’re taking kids to and from school, from practices, from extracurriculars. Parents are working multiple jobs, not everybody has the time, the opportunity to stay at home and cook a meal,” Thompson said.
Thompson, a mom of two, knows how persistent kids can be about stopping at a restaurant. She sees the healthier menu option as a good way to compromise.
“I can also (send the) message to my kids ahead of time and set expectations like, yes, we can eat at this restaurant, but you have to have this meal choice,” Thompson said.
Health inspectors would enforce the rule, which builds on California’s earlier effort requiring water or milk as the default drink in kids’ meals.
Children’s meals would be capped at 550 calories, 700 milligrams of sodium, 15 grams of added sugar, zero trans fat and only 10% of the calories can be from saturated fat.
Each meal would also need to include at least two healthy components such as fruit, vegetables, low-fat dairy, lean protein or whole grains.
The meals would also need to be clearly marked on the menu so parents could easily identify the healthy choice.
Research shows that introducing kids to healthy choices earlier in life has long-lasting effects as they grow older.
“Those are going to track into later life and ultimately help reduce the risk for heart disease, for stroke, for type 2 diabetes, for all of those chronic diseases that are associated with excess consumption of a lot of the nutrients that are found in a typical fast food meal,” Thompson said.
If Newsom signs the bill into law, California would become the first state to institute such a requirement, according to the American Heart Association, a co-sponsor of the bill.
