No matter how you slice it...

In recent months, many of the major fast food chains have been trying to make their kids' meals a little healthier than the standard-issue burger and fries. Wendy's offers a turkey-and-cheese or ham-and-cheese sandwich as an alternative to a hamburger; and a fruit cup or yogurt cup as alternatives to french fries. At McDonald's, a child can choose "chicken selects" instead of the usual McNuggets (probably slightly healthier, as they are not fried), and sliced apples with dip instead of fries.

As I found out this morning on The Today Show, Burger King is now jumping on the healthier-fast-food bandwagon. Their new menu item, "apple fries," are really nothing more than sliced apples...but they are sliced into the shape of french fries and served in a french fry container. Come on, now, Burger King -- what's with the disguise? If McDonald's can serve sliced apples that look like sliced apples, why can you not do that? Is making the apple slices look like french fries actually supposed to make kids want to eat them? And if it does, isn't that just a little sad? Do kids really need to be tricked into eating a healthy snack?

For many of them, I'm sorry to say that the answer is probably "yes" -- a child who will pick up an apple and eat it by choice is probably the exception nowadays, rather than the rule. Most American kids are so accustomed to candy, chips, and cupcakes that they dislike good ol' fruits and veggies, or refuse to try them altogether. And if a hungry, fast-food-loving child is handed an order of what he thinks are french fries, only to put one in his mouth and taste apple, do you honestly think he will eat them? I don't think so.

I admire the fast food chains' efforts to improve their food, but I don't know how well the healthier options actually sell. McDonald's in particular doesn't attempt to give its new menu items much help with advertising. Its commercials portray a parent-and-child trip to McDonald's as rewarding quality time, as a special treat. And what is the child most often eating in these ads? Processed, deep-fried Chicken McNuggets, of course. And just look at Wendy's most recent advertising slogan: Do what tastes right? What ever happened to doing what was right for your body?

Last night's episode of "The Biggest Loser," to be discussed in a future entry, featured a health-related trivia question at the beginning of each commercial break. The first one was something along the lines of, "What percentage of American families eat fast food as a meal one or two times a week?" The answer? Fifty-one percent. The related University of Minnesota study also found that seven percent of American families eat fast food three to four times each week.

To quote the entire cast of "Grey's Anatomy," Seriously?

I admit that I'm biased because I was not raised that way. I was taught that some foods were good for me and some weren't, and that those that weren't were to be eaten less often than those that were. I always liked fruits and vegetables and was encouraged by my parents to eat them. We had fast food once in a great while, and we definitely never said, "Let's all go out to McDonald's and have dinner as a family." By the time I was about ten years old, I had realized how completely unhealthy most fast foods were and stopped eating them, completely of my own accord. It makes me sad to think that so many kids today are not taught that what they eat matters. They see nothing beyond "This tastes good," and as a result, a large percentage of them are overweight or obese.

I know that most families who eat a lot of fast food do so because it's cheap and easy, and that it's difficult for some people to afford a lot of fresh healthy foods. But I think they need to try a little harder. Eating all of those burgers and fries at a young age will have serious negative effects on their children in the future.

It's the McDonaldization of America...and I'm definitely not lovin' it.