Toy ban to fight childhood obesity?

For many children, the happiest part of a McDonald's Happy Meal is not the greasy processed food, but the simple yet highly entertaining plastic toy.  This happy component to the meal might soon be gone, though. In an effort to fight childhood obesity, Santa Clara County officials are proposing the banning of toy inclusion from any meal that has more than 485 calories, 600 milligrams of sodium, and a high fat and sugar content.  Most of the current McDonald's Happy Meals fall under this category.

It does not seem likely that the proposed ban would have a significant impact on childhood obesity rates and fast food consumption.  Although the idea of getting a brand new toy with their meal is an exciting prospect for children, it is usually not the driving force behind a parent's decision to eat at a fast food restaurant.  Instead, many seek out the Happy Meals, along with the chain's other meal deals, because of convenience and affordability.  The exclusion of a toy from the meal would not remove these perceived positives.     

If Santa Clara County truly wants to fight childhood obesity, cutting out toys is not the way to do it. Instead, they need to cut out the processed, toxic foods from the American food system. It is the highly processed fake food found in products like Happy Meals that is making American children sick; not the toys.  Unless there is a ban on selling French fries, hamburgers, chicken nuggets and milkshakes to minors, just like alcohol or cigarettes, the drastic drop of childhood obesity rates everyone is looking for will not happen.

The Happy Meal is currently celebrating its 30th anniversary of destroying the health of innocent children. According to the McDonald's website, there are 35 McDonald's restaurants in Las Vegas.  In celebration of this anniversary, perhaps you should avoid all 35 of these "restaurants" and eat a healthy salad with your children instead.