First the good news: fast food is more healthful than it has been in years. And now the bad: it’s still a long way from healthful. The Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University reports that a survey of calorie counts at fast food restaurants shows that this year’s core offerings contain 60 fewer calories (or 12 percent fewer calories) than their traditional menu selections in 2012 and 2013. How did they make unhealthful food healthful? OK, they didn’t do that, exactly, but they did add a lot of more healthful foods, like salads. When the researchers, who analyzed data from MenuStat, looked at menu options in 66 of the 100 largest U.S. restaurant chains for 2012 and 2013 they found that newer, lower-calorie items fell into the categories of main course, beverages and children’s menus. The researchers remind us that on a typical day, 33 percent of young children, 41 percent of adolescents and 36 percent of adults, eat at fast-food restaurants, with an average intake of 191 calories, 404 calories, and 315 calories, respectively. So will 60 calories make a difference? Lead study author Sara Bleich says yes, “the impact on obesity could be significant.”
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