Should Toys Stay in Kids Meals?

Some areas have banned restaurants from putting toys and prizes in kids’ meals, but they could actually be making a big mistake here. Sure, it is not good to promote unhealthy foods such as burgers and fries with toys, but by putting toys in with meals, kids may actually be more tempted to eat healthy foods that they would normally not go near at all. We all know how fussy many kids are, and it can be really difficult to make sure that they are getting all of the nutrients they need. Toys may be just the thing to get them to eat their vegetables.

Throughout the years, parents have resorted to much trickery and deceit in order to get their kids to eat healthy foods. For some reason, as soon as kids hear the words “healthy” or “vegetables”, they often run screaming in the other direction. Now, it is never any good to force kids to eat something, because they will never like it as they will always associate it with being forced to eat. Instead, we have to find ways to sneak vegetables into their meals. One way is to cover everything up with cheese, which tastes great, but can add a lot of fat to the diet.

Toys Tempt Kids

Often, kids don’t even want the meals at fast food restaurants because they are hungry; they simply want the toy or prizes that come with the meals. This proves that it is the toys that sell the meals, so it only stands to reason that even if the meal consists of healthy foods that kids will still want it, even if it is just to get that special toy that they can’t get anywhere else. Of course, once they start eating the healthy foods, ten to one says that they will end up liking many of them, and will start to eat them on a regular basis without putting up a major fuss about it.

Time to Reconsider?

It is possible that the regions that have banned toys from kids’ meals may have jumped the gun a little bit. Had they done more research, they may have been able to turn a bad thing into a very good thing, and help to promote healthy eating among children. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Oregon have performed studies that showed parents are very open to the idea of having toys in healthy kids’ meals, but not in the unhealthy ones. The studies also show that having toys in meals can have a particular influence on preschoolers, and this is an important time to make sure they are eating healthy, because they are learning habits now that will last a lifetime.

Many fast food restaurants are already offering healthy choices on kids’ meals with toys. If you are going to be eating out with your kids, and you want to encourage them to eat healthy, opt for a kids’ meal that has apple slices and other healthy foods, and of course, that all important toy, which is going to be the incentive for them to eat the meal, because if they don’t eat it, they don’t get the toy.