海角大神

Why New York City is considering Happy Meal restrictions again

The bill has been deliberated twice in the past. But this iteration wouldn't ban free toys with kids' meals, says its lead sponsor.

The New York City Council is once again deliberating the 鈥淗ealthy Happy Meals鈥� bill, a proposal that would set nutritional standards for the meals sold with toys in fast food restaurants.

If passed, the law would require restaurants to cut down on calories and start including portions of fruit, vegetables, or grains in the popular meals. Servings would have to consist of 500 calories or less, as well as less fat, sodium, and sugar.

These are 鈥渕inimum nutrition standards,鈥� 聽Ben Kallos,聽lead sponsor of the bill, in a statement.

Councilman Kallos said the plan was drafted in partnership with parents鈥� groups, the American Heart Association, and the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The last is a consumer organization that in 2010 sued McDonald鈥檚 for what they said was .听

The 鈥淗ealthy Happy Meals鈥� issue has been challenged in New York and other parts of the country before. Just last year, the City Council the bill, which then had included a ban on toy giveaways with certain meals, CBS News reported. A similar proposal in 2011 failed to pass.

This iteration 鈥渨ould not ban toys sold with kids鈥� meals,鈥� Kallos.

Talk of the bill often compares it with a law in California, named the Healthy Food Incentive Ordinance and known for its derisory success. Unlike the New York bill, legislation to ban toy giveaways in 2011 was by San Francisco鈥檚 Board of Supervisors, according to The Huffington Post.

But critics say McDonald鈥檚 managed to sidestep the requirement by charging 10 cents for the addition of a toy 鈥� serving the same meals as before.

The latest bill in New York is being supported by at least , and researchers at New York University鈥檚 Langone Medical Center have also come forward with their support.

from them聽suggests that the policy would make a significant difference in reducing childhood obesity, which currently affects more than one in six American children, reports 海角大神.

In New York City, the Department of Health says聽 of all elementary school and Head Start children are too heavy.

Researchers examined the receipts for more than 400 kids鈥� meals purchased at Burger King, McDonald鈥檚, and Wendy鈥檚 restaurants, and found that most of the servings had about 600 calories and exceeded various nutritional limits.

Authors of the study also said they had 鈥渄istributed toys with modified McDonald鈥檚 Happy Meals designed to comply with the California law. Children were modified meals with the toy than unchanged meals without the toy,鈥� they said.

鈥淲hile 54 calories at a given meal is a small reduction, small changes that affect a wide number of people can make a large impact,鈥� Dr. Brian Elbel, an associate professor of population health and health policy who led the study.