As a personal trainer, you’ve been eating healthily for as long as you can remember. Although it was difficult to say no to foods like pizza, crisps and donuts when you first started to adjust your eating habits, over time it became like second nature. Now, you even look when walking past a McDonald’s or Burger King - it simply isn’t part of your life anymore.

However, now that your little one is growing up, they’ve expressed an interest in popping into McDonald’s with their friends on the way back from school. Not only do they love the food, but they also just want to join in:

“But mum, everyone goes to McDonald’s after school and hangs out, why can’t I?”

We all want our kids to eat healthily. And as someone who is health conscious, it will feel like a no-brainer to tell your little ones they can’t have meals like Mcdonald's and Burger King. However, it’s important to understand that fast food is a part of our society, and to a certain extent, it always will be. We need to teach our children about fast food so they can build a healthier relationship with it, and pave the way for them to make healthier, better choices on their own accord as they grow.

But before that, you need to understand fast food a little better, and the effect it can have on your child. After all, knowledge is power, and something that allows us to set standards when it comes to important topics like our health.

First up, what is fast food and how is it defined?

What is fast food?

Fast food doesn’t have a universal definition, and depending on where you are in the world, it will be viewed or described differently. However, if you’re in a westernised country like the United States of America or the United Kingdom, fast food is thought of as foods like french fries, hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, fried chicken, and sweetened beverages. It can be picked up within minutes, and “emphasises convenience and affordability”. Since its inception in the 1800s, it has been one of the fastest-growing industries in the world.

What is the difference between fast food and fast casual restaurants?

When discussing fast food, it’s important to iron out the difference between fast food and fast casual restaurants. This will allow you to carry out more precise monitoring of your child’s intake of fast food.

For example, a well-known sandwich chain that advertised some of its products as healthy and low fat would not be considered a fast food restaurant, but rather a fast-casual one.

Fast casual restaurants typically have a meal cost of £8.28 - £11.96, a “limited service”, and “emphasise flavour or freshness”.

Fast food restaurants like Mcdonald's will have a “typical” meal cost of £4.60, minimal service, advertising that “emphasises convenience and affordability, and some drive-through facilities.

Have fast food restaurants made an effort to be healthier?

In the wake of movies like Super Size Me being released, many fast food restaurants have taken steps to improve their meals designed for children. For example, by integrating more dairy, salad, and fruit into their meals, and displaying or having available on request the nutrition information of the healthy menu options.

However, in general, food consumed away from home (except school meals) will contain fewer essential nutrients such as dietary fibre, calcium, and iron for your child. For example, one study showed that 99% of 1662 children’s meal combinations from national chain restaurants were of poor nutritional quality.

These restaurants will also typically serve large portions of food, which presents another issue for controlling a child’s consumption and energy intake.

What effect does fast food have on the energy and nutrient intake of children?

Although the effect of fast food consumption by children and adolescents on dietary intake or eating patterns is unclear, we can draw on some nationally representative data from the NHANES to give us a better idea of the numbers. This data shows that the number of children who are consuming fast food (from ages 4 - 19 years) has dropped from 38.8% (2003 - 2004) to 32.6% (2009 - 2010). This number increased slightly to 34.3% of children 2 - 19 years of age in 2011 - 2012.

From this, it is clear that sweetened beverages contributed to 35% of increased energy intake, and 20% of lowered HEI scores. And overall, away-from-home meals (like fast food) contributed to an overall lower diet quality of 4%, an extra 65 calls to the diets of all children, and 107 kcals to the diets of older children.

In general, studies like this show us that a child’s fast food consumption is associated with a lowered intake of fruit and vegetables, a higher intake of sodium and SFAs, and an all-round compromised diet quality, in comparison with the food they eat at home. Other data also shows that as children grow, a higher percentage of their energy will come from quick-service restaurants, and that for the most part, they are not meeting their recommended nutrient intakes.

That being said, there have also been some encouraging data points found. For example, from 2003 - 2010, fast food consumption by children 4 - 19 years has indicated a decline in energy intake of 205 kcals a day - 109 kcals of which is attributed to a decline in consumption of fast food.

This is a huge and very in-depth topic, so in part 2 we’ll continue to explore it!

What effect does fast food have on my child? (Part 1)

Convenience food is, unsurprisingly, not the best choice for children.