Eating out at restaurants is no longer a rare treat saved for a special occasion. More than one half of food expenditures in the United States are spent outside of the home1 and children get an average of 25 percent of their calories from restaurant foods and beverages.2 Children eat almost twice as many calories when they eat a meal at a restaurant compared to a typical meal at home. The overwhelming majority of children’s meals are unhealthy.3 Eighty-six percent of children’s meals at the nation’s largest chain restaurants are high in calories; many also are high in sodium (66%) and saturated fat (55%).3 Many restaurants provide few healthy options for children and make unhealthy options the default accompaniments with meals (i.e., the meals automatically come with fries and a soft drink).

Fast-food and other restaurants use food marketing to shape children’s food preferences … Read More »