Happy Meal Toys Causing Childhood Obesity?

The latest target in the battle over fast food is something you shouldn't even put in your mouth.


Convinced that Happy Meals and other food promotions aimed at children could make kids fat as well as happy, county officials in Silicon Valley are poised to outlaw the little toys that often come with high-calorie offerings.

The proposed ban is the latest in a growing string of efforts to change the types of foods aimed at youngsters and the way they are cooked and sold. Across the nation, cities, states and school boards have taken aim at excessive sugar, salt and certain types of fats.

Believed to be the first of its kind in the nation, the proposal would forbid the inclusion of a toy in any restaurant meal that has more than 485 calories, more than 600 mg of salt or high amounts of sugar or fat. In the case of McDonald's, the limits would include all of the chain's Happy Meals — even those that include apple sticks instead of French fries.

Supporters say the ban would encourage restaurants to offer more-nutritious foods to kids and would make unhealthful items less appealing. But opponents believe it amounts to government meddling in parental decisions. The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will consider the proposal Tuesday.

Even though it's largely symbolic — the proposed ban would apply only to the dozen fast-food restaurants within the jurisdiction of the board — the proposal has caused a bit of an uproar on the Internet, where comments on YouTube and other sites say it is another example of the "nanny state" gone wild.

The California Restaurant Assn. has taken out full-page newspaper advertisements against the proposed ordinance in local newspapers. One shows a little girl with her hands cuffed behind her back as she holds a stuffed animal.

Another opponent wrote in a YouTube posting, "I want to know when the pitchforks and torches and rope is going to come out.... We need to run these Frankenstein politician monsters the hell out of town!"

Ken Yeager, the Santa Clara County supervisor who is behind the effort, says the toys in kids' meals are contributing to America's obesity epidemic by encouraging children to eat unhealthful, fattening foods.

"People ask why I want to take toys out of the hands of children," said Yeager, who is president of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. "But we now know that 70% of the kids that are overweight or obese will be overweight or obese as adults. Why would we want to burden anybody with a lifetime of chronic illness?"

NEWS FALSH: YOUR NOT BURDENING THEM! THEY ARE BURDENING THEMSELVES. YOU ARE NOT THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE! GET A FRICKING HOBBY AND KEEP YOUR NANNY LAWS TO YOURSELF

"We went through a phase when my daughter wanted the Happy Meal just to get the toy," said Kristen Dimont, 37 (do you here the violin in the backround?) . The Sunnyvale blogger said that once her child tasted fast food, it took years to coax her back to the healthful variety (Takes me about a second. You say NO. It’s a very complex and emotionally straining word, but it works everytime). Dimont likes the idea of the ban — and thinks the supervisors should consider extending it to the play yards that also attract children to fast-food restaurants.

In this way, they can take all the responsibility away from the parents and blame someone else for their fat kid. It’s the American way!

Ok, here is a novel approach: DON”T TAKE YOUR KIDS TO MCDONALDS> IF YOU GO< DON’T BUY A HAPPY MEAL! Why is it always necessary for these freaking progressives to impose their choices on everyone around them. I take my kids to McDonalds and I have not once bought them a happy meal (they are expensive). My kids have somehow managed to avoid Obesity despite these trips to the fat farm. Perhaps, just maybe, kids have other reasons for being obese.

"To say that Burger King or McDonald's is the root cause or that giving toys with children's meals is a root cause is not right," said some parents

McDonald's declined to comment on the proposed ban. But the California Restaurant Assn. has played a major role in the opposition.

If County Supervisor Yeager "wants to take away the toys that are making kids fat, take away Xboxes, take away PlayStations, take away flat-screen TVs," said Daniel Conway, spokesman for the industry group.

Damn straight, unfortunately for us all-they will go after that too.

Yeager knows that even if the board passes his proposal, its effect would be small. Even so, he says, it's worth it.

"We're responsible for paying for healthcare in the whole county," Yeager said. "We pay close to $2 billion annually on healthcare, and the costs have done nothing but rise." A big part of the increase, he said, is costs related to obesity.

And so it begins….. We are responsible for your healthcare, so we can tell you what to eat. I told you this mentality would take hold. It is already is at the for front of every liberal tyrant out there. They want to control your behavior. Healthcare gives them an excuse to do so. Next will come the push for mandatory exercise, probably during work hours to assure compliance. I just can’t wrap my brain around the idea that a big nanny state government is what the American people want. Are we not able to make simple decisions about food without mandates from the federal government? Does anyone truly believe that childhood obesity is a result or even influenced by McDonald’s Happy meal toys? Even if it is responsible for developing bad habits, the government has no right to dictate what I or my children eat. If I want to eat myself to death, I have every right to do so as a free individual. It’s not their concern, or at least it shouldn’t be. But like the tyrant pointed out, they are paying for health care now…..

The progressive ideology is the problem. We have a very screwed up sense of morality in the 21st century. Peopl don’t take care of themselves, but to keep busy they dictate how everyone else should act. They believe in “helping others” through force. They use the government to do so because they have a monopoly on force, a monopoly that is supposed to protect our individual rights. They don’t care what one individual thinks, because what is the opinion of one man worth against the benefit of the greater good. The concept of a society of free individuals is lost on them. They view any law that forces a “progressively “favorable” behavior as beneficial to people, so its ok to impose on their right to make a choice. It’s only a little imposing anyway, and its for their own benefit. Like CS Lewis says – they do so with the approval of their own conscious. Which makes them the most dangerous tyrants of all.