The 25 worst kid's meals from national chains

people everything is fine to eat in moderation. and don't eat the whole figgin' meat at restraunts when you dine out. They give you enough portions in most restaurants to make 3 meals out of it.

Parent education is the key to keeping your children healthy.Parent education and following what you teach or preach to your children will also help prevent them from becoming orphan at a early age.Remeber the fast food people are in the business for profit. I owned a restaurant for 6 years . My menu didn't have one thing on it that was in my diet. everything was high fat fried or pork or broiled . I made a ton of money and eventually sold the restaurant . The new owner changed the menu and was out of business in six months.When you sell sauteeed spinach in smoked pork grease and scrambled eggs people will line up to kill themselves and pay in the process.

Most of those meals were chicken nuggets, chicken strips, or some other kind of fried chicken served with french fries. An entirely fried meal having loads of calories? No s---...

I can walk into any fast food establishment around here and point out 20 people I know who have 3 or 4 kids and do not work. They eat out twice a day. Do the math. These kids, like their parents are gray looking and fat. No good can come out of fast food and soda. Nothing but serious health issues.

I just bought a fridge full of fresh local produce for 20 dollars and fruits for making desserts and for yogurt and cereal. Not every meal has to be between bread with tons of salt and dangerous ingredients. It really is cheaper to eat health than fast foods. I raised three sons and worked two jobs and went without fast food. They eat veggies and whole grains, lots of wholesome pastas and love it.

Many restaurant meals are so bad for you because the portions are so large. Teach your kid not to finish everything and take three quarters of the meal home for later and the calories aren't so bad then.

"No" is not a word in many parent's vocabulary.... Little Doodoo doesn't like pork chops and veggies? Tough. She'll eat when she gets hungry enough. Some of my cousins children wouldn't eat anything but blue box mac 'n cheese and fish fingers... really? Gross! Not even real food!

JUST SAY NO!

Children will not starve to death if expected to eat the same foods the rest of the family eats at meal time. They may skip dinner once or twice? But they will get hungry and will eat what's put in front of them.

I love the Ensure ad where the Mom is giving her "picky eater" a protein shake supplement... really? Again, she'll eat when she gets really hungry...

JUST EAT IT.

Fast food, eating out, ice cream, soda and the like are treats and only to be had once in a awhile...

Ok, a little off topic, but when I opened this article, the trending topic was "40 ton whale." I know the whale episode was not funny--but it was a bit weird seeing that as the trending topic for this post.

It doesn't surprise me that kid's meals are fattening. But what really irks me is that I try everything to keep my son healthy. I'm one of those horrifying "local produce" moms who are at farms and farmer's markets all the time. We try not to eat fast food. Ill be honest. I'm Italian, my husband is hispanic. We are genetically programmed to be...er...rounder than most and we fight it as best we can. And then my son freaking goes to school and eats the crap they call "hot lunch." (Yes, I get that I could have told him no. I didn't. I regret it. Nuff said.) We finally made the decision that this year, no matter what, he'd take his lunch to school.

As a commuter to work without a car- by the time I get to and from work on the bus- I have been gone from my house for 11 hours. At this point in my day- making dinner is one of the last things I want to do. If I had children added to this mix- I can definitely empathize with parents who are low-income and struggling to do the best job they can- sometimes (and all parents do this, in one way or another) they take the "easy" way out because otherwise they would go insane. Another issue is food deserts- where fresh fruits and veggies and other healthy foods are not available cheap. Another issue is planning- if you are living day to day it can be hard to procure a weeks worth of groceries and plan meals. Its also not like every family has a stay at home parent that can cook meals every night. A lot of families require two working incomes and it is hard to balance all that sometimes. I am not saying parents can't do a better job- but there is more to this problem than "bad parenting" A lot of people are doing the best they can with what they have.

Try being a parent and just saying no. Who cares if McDonald's targets children with advertising, kid's meals, and toys? Be an adult, tell your child no, and drive on over to Subway if you really need to eat out. Better yet, toss a banana at them and tell them that is what they get. They can eat it or go hungry. It may be horrible for a few days, but I swear your kids will eat what you give them instead of starving. A few years ago I was babysitting my cousins. At the time they were 10, 8, and 6. I made lunch and the two older ones ate and left the table. the youngest one refused to eat what I gave him, even though I know he likes it, and demanded cereal. My aunt told me no cereal and I told him the same thing. An hour later he came back and said he was hungry, but only for candy. Guess how well that turned out for him. He didn't get cereal or candy from me that day. He eventually ate the food I'd prepared hours earlier, except it wasn't as good by then. Now he knows to eat what and when I say.

Going out to eat is a treat, now with articles like this they will make it a law that you can't have certain oil in foods because of obesity rates in children and adults....oh wait, they already do. Let's just keep the police state going.

Hey Kailey......I just find it hard that I see families pushing grocery carts at Walmart full of frozen premade meals and cases of soda and the 13 year old is wearing $150.00 pair of shoes. Each parent and the kids have to waddle to get through the store.

My feelings are that it has to be cheaper to eat healthier. It has to be safer to eat healthy. These people have cars and nice clothes, why can't they have a stove and a pan?

I get my daughters a side salad for their meal when we go out to eat. I don't care what the pictures show in the draw on menu (that's as high class as it gets with us right now).... I can't change my husband, so he'll end up giving them a few fries so they'll have a little of that and that's all they need (and it doesn't hurt him none to lose some fries).

Putting harmful chemicals in food should be banned. It should not be up to the consumer to research every single ingredient in every single thing they eat. We do not have our own labs and enough time and money to do the research. The FDA should have to approve anything we injest.

Just because the options are out there, does not mean your children have to eat at these places. How about saying no, or heres a strange idea, cook at home!

Now, how about an article talking about the 25 BEST kid's meals out there. It's time for some positive articles on this website now please.

I noticed that the author included red meat with "fried foods" as a rare treat. We eat a variety of meats including leaner red meats and I do not believe these should be in the "rare treat" category. I am all for healthier eating, but I also believe in eating everything in moderation and not "banning" any foods from my children or demonizing foods. We eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, meats, and treats. We do not use treats as rewards or take them as punishment and limit soda in the home. I agree with the posters above, let's have some positive articles that still allow for a family to go out sometimes and not assume that just because my children or anyone else's have had McDonald's a few times in their lives that we are bad parents.

The first problem is there are no "25 BEST kid's meals". And going out to eat at McDonalds is not a treat. If you treat McDonalds as a reward and eating a well balanced meal at home the norm of course kids will want McDonalds. McDonalds should only be fore when you are on the road and due to some unforseen circumstance you do not have time or the ability to eat anywhere healthier. Just make dinner at home more fun.

As if the concept of eating at Chevy's isn't depressing enough in itself, the idea that they're fattening our kids makes it really grim!

When McDonalds first opened, it served REAL beef, REAL potatoes, etc. People weren't obese, and it was a once in a while treat. Then the company was sold, and as the new owners got greedier, parents got lazier, and now we have an obesity epidemic. Restaurant food isn't always what it seems, and even if it can claim to be 100% beef, do you really want to know where its coming from? YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!!

Stop blaming the restaurants...............blame the lazy, uneducated parents. STOP eating out!!!!!