'Kids meals at restaurants not healthy'

Dubai: Kids meals at restaurants are scarcely a better alternative to fast food counterparts, as a study found that they also contain more calories, fat and salt than what is recommended for a meal.

The US-based Centre for Science in the Public Interest issued a report recently about 13 popular restaurant chains, many of them available in the UAE. Ninety-three per cent of 1,474 meal choices exceeded 430 calories, which is the recommended amount per meal for a child.

Many restaurants Gulf News visited had a children's menu, which offered a combination of pizzas, cheeseburgers, deep-fried chicken crispers, sweetened juices and chocolate milkshakes.

Dr Amita Attlee, a nutrition expert at VLCC, told Gulf News it was a fallacy to think restaurant chains were healthier options compared to fast food restaurants.

"At the restaurant, you have no control over the type of oil used, how it is used [deep-frying instead of spraying]. They also tend to use white processed bread and serving portions are bigger.

"Children are eating much more in a serving than they should," she said.

She added that although many of the meals were chicken-based, considered a lean meat, the way it was cooked and the ingredients that complement the meals, such as bread and fries negated its positive effects.

She also said the calorie analysis of children's restaurant meals would help explain children's obesity and disease rates in the UAE.

"Kids here are less active than those in the US, partly because of the weather and the lack of facilities. It's compounding the problem," she said. About 10 per cent of 15-year-old public schoolchildren surveyed in 2006 were obese, according to the UAE Ministry of Health.

The global school-based Student Health Survey, involving 15,790 expatriate and Emirati pupils in both private and public schools, found that 11.8 per cent of 13-year-olds to 15-year-olds surveyed were obese. In addition, 21.3 per cent were at risk of becoming obese.

The high obesity rates, bad diet and sedentary lifestyle among children in the UAE have been blamed for an increase in chronic conditions commonly associated with adults, such as hypertension, Type II diabetes and heart disease. Health officials have reported children as young as six had pre-diabetes. Eight-year-olds had high cholesterol and 10-year-olds had Type II diabetes. Dr Attlee's own research has found a few eight-year olds in the UAE with hypertension.

Dr Attlee said a significant factor in helping children adopt and practice a healthy diet was to emphasise on home cooking.

"It is better to eat home-cooked foods. You can control the quantity and quality, such as the method of cooking, freshness of ingredients - you can also substitute some ingredients with healthier options," she said.

Another point is to ensure children do not eat three big meals a day; instead providing them with five to six small meals throughout the day.

"This way if they become hungry, they can have something small without pushing them over the limit," she added.