The nutritional quality of fast food meals is extremely poor. I'll review the nutritional information of McDonald's Happy Meals, since McDonald's is one of the most popular fast food chains in the world and specifically markets to children. All information comes from the McDonald's Happy Meals Nutrition List (link opens a pdf document).
Happy Meals covered in the McDonald's nutrition list come with one of three main course options--a hamburger, a cheeseburger, or a 4-piece chicken nuggets. They also include the option of two different sides--a small fry or apple dippers with low-fat caramel dip.
The average Happy Meal (including the main course, a side, and a drink) contains:
- 527.5 calories
- 18.2 grams of fat, including:
- 0.5 grams of trans fat
- 5.4 grams of saturated fat
I'll also provide the average nutrition information of Happy Meals containing each main course and each side. Most of the drinks don't seem to greatly affect the number of calories or grams of fat in a Happy Meal, so I won't include information about the changes in calorie/fat content in meals that include different drinks.
However, I noticed that chocolate milk significantly raises the meal's calorie count--by 60-70 calories.
4-Piece Chicken Nuggets
Happy Meals with chicken nuggets contain less than the average amount of calories, about the same amount of overall fat, no trans fat, and less saturated fat.
With a side and a drink:
- 467.5 calories
- 18.9 grams of fat, including:
- 0 grams of trans fat
- 3.75 grams of saturated fat
With a small fry and a drink:
- 532.5 calories
- 24.3 grams of fat, including:
- 0 grams of trans fat
- 4.3 grams of saturated fat
With apple dippers and a drink:
- 402.5 calories
- 13.5 grams of fat, including:
- 0 grams of trans fat
- 3.3 grams of saturated fat
Happy Meals with a hamburger contain about the same as the average amount of calories, less overall fat, more trans fat, and about the same amount of saturated fat.
With a side and a drink:
- 532.5 calories
- 16 grams of fat, including:
- 0.5 grams of trans fat
- 5 grams of saturated fat
With a small fry and a drink:
- 602.5 calories
- 21.5 grams of fat
- 0.5 grams of trans fat
- 5.8 grams of saturated fat
With apple dippers and a drink:
- 462.5 calories
- 10.5 grams of fat
- 0.5 grams of trans fat
- 4.3 grams of saturated fat
Happy Meals with a cheeseburger contain more than the average amount of calories, more overall fat, more trans fat, and more saturated fat.
With a side and a drink:
- 582.5 calories
- 19.8 grams of fat, including:
- 1 gram of trans fat
- 7.5 grams of saturated fat
With a small fry and a drink:
- 652.5 calories
- 23.3 grams of fat
- 1 gram of trans fat
- 8 grams of saturated fat
With apple dippers and a drink:
- 512.5 calories
- 14.3 grams of fat
- 1 gram of trans fat
- 7 grams of saturated fat
Happy Meals with a small fry instead of apple dippers have about 140 more calories, 9 more grams of overall fat, the same amount of trans fat, and 1 more gram of saturated fat.
Happy Meals with a cheeseburger have the most amount of calories, overall fat content, trans fat and saturated fat content.
Happy Meals with chicken nuggets have the least amount of calories, trans fat and saturated fat content.
Happy Meals with a hamburger have the least amount of overall fat content.
Chocolate milk adds an extra 60-70 calories to a meal, even versus white milk.
The Best and the Worst
Least calories -- Chicken nuggets with apple dippers and apple juice. 380 calories.
Most calories -- Cheeseburger with a small fry and chocolate milk. 700 calories.
Least fat -- Hamburger with apple dippers and apple juice or Sprite. 9g of fat.
Most fat -- Cheeseburger with a small fry and chocolate milk. 27g of fat.
Least trans fat -- Chicken nuggets with a side and drink. 0g of trans fat.
Most trans fat -- Cheeseburger with a side and drink. 1gof trans fat.
Least sat. fat -- Chicken nuggets with apples and apple juice or Sprite. 2.5g of sat. fat.
Most sat. fat -- Cheeseburger with a small fry and white or chocolate milk. 9g of sat. fat.
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