Unhappy Meals: San Francisco May Ban Toys with Kids' Fast Food

Update 11/11/10: After more than 300 Change.org members petitioned the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, lawmakers voted in favor of the Healthy Meals Incentive ordinance. Beginning Dec. 1, 2011, restaurants in San Francisco can only offer toys with kids' meals that meet certain nutritional requirements. Read the full story here.

When adults indulge in fattening foods like cheeseburgers and french fries, they're rewarded with weight gain and an increased risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes. When kids chow down on similar meals, they get — well, they encounter the same health problems, but snag a shiny, new toy, too.

Some San Francisco lawmakers hope to combat America's childhood obesity epidemic through a proposed ordinance that would ban restaurants from offering toys with unhealthy kids' meals. San Francisco's Board of Supervisors Land Use and Economic Development Committee was expected to vote on the proposal yesterday. Instead, dozens of reps from McDonald's and other fast food restaurants descended on the meeting, claiming that it infringes on diners' freedom of choice. One group even whipped together this Web site decrying the bill, FreetoChooseOurMeals.com. The Golden Arches' army of spokespeople ultimately pushed the vote on the ordinance til next week.

San Francisco's Supervisor Eric Mar proposed the ordinance, which mandates that if restaurants are to include toys with kids' meals, those entrees must meet certain nutritional requirements. In other words, dishes high in fat, sodium, and sugar and lacking fruits and veggies wouldn't legally be able to come with a side dish of a cartoon figurine.

The proposed law takes a stab right at McDonald's and other restaurants' business models. Fat kids play a huge role in fattening fast food chains' wallets. According to Corporate Accountability International, fast food restaurants sell more than one billion meals (and accompanying toys) to kids 12-years-old or younger every year. The 12-and-under set commands about $40-$50 billion a year in direct purchasing power, and these kids also influence about $670 billion in family purchases (otherwise known as the "Mom, please!!" strategy).

While these kids bring big money to fast food joints, chowing down on unhealthy meals gives children big health problems. About one-third of American kids weigh in as overweight or obese. Eating meals high in fat, sodium, and sugar sets kids up for a host of health issues like diabetes, heart disease, cancers, asthma, and other maladies. Rewarding unhealthy eating with toys from the latest movie or popular video game provides an incentive for kids to keep chowing down on fattening fare, laying the foundation for a lifetime of poor eating habits.

San Francisco's Board of Supervisors Land Use and Economic Development Committee will vote on the ordinance next week. If it passes, it will then go on to a full vote with the entire board. Mayor Gavin Newsom has already threatened to veto this ordinance, so it's important to put pressure on lawmakers to make sure it passes. Sign Corporate Accountability International's petition asking San Fran's Board of Supervisors to pass this bill and ensure that the city's kids stay healthy.

Photo credit: EvelynGiggles via Flickr