While San Francisco is considering a ban on toys in the popular McDonald’s Happy Meal, Houston has a hometown “hero” pediatrician who has succeeded in improving the nutrition of Happy Meals at McDonald’s restaurant located in Texas Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Sanjiv (Sonny) Harpavat preserved through three years of tough negotiations to improve Happy meals and post calorie counts at the McDonald’s in Texas Children’s Hospital. Happy Meals at TCH now have milk and fruit instead of soft drinks and french fries.
Our DINEs team has been advised by physicians and nutrition experts that labeling menus is a first step in fighting the complex issues related to obesity, it is a critical one. Houstonians are eating out in increasing numbers and by all accounts will continue to do so over the coming decades. Houston has great restaurants and fast food on almost every block. To address our obesity crises among adults and children in Houston, we need to know the calorie content before we choose among all those tempting meals.
The San Francisco proposal is designed to improve the nutritional content of Happy Meals by lowering the sugar, sodium and fat content in the Happy Meal and add a half-cup serving of fruit and vegetables. While the proposal will be placed before the full board on October 19th, Mayor Gavin Newsom has threatened to veto the ban, opting to insure healthy choices are made available. Newsom has been a leader in promoting healthy foods and lifestyles and has planted a garden at city hall with fresh food guru Alice Waters.
Houston’s Dr. Harpavat sees the impact of fast foods on his patients each day and is working with other physicians across the country to improve foods available in hospital restaurants. Diseases unheard of in previous generations of children now include hypertension, type 2 diabetes and even fatty liver an are linked to obesity.
For more on San Francisco Happy meals, see the story on NPR. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130303321
Written by: N. Thorne
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