Fast Food Review: Can Fast Food Be Healthy?

The latest fast food marketing craze is "healthy," but are these foods really good for your kids?

Although fast food chains may be offering healthier meals than ever before, they are still not the well-balanced meal a child deserves, according to nutritionists. Just pulling up to the drive-thru often has the kids hollering for fries and a toy, and many restaurants provide cues for overeating.

According to the recent Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study, by Gerber Products Inc., poor eating habits are already in the making just after kids start on table food. For the study, random telephone interviews were conducted in 2002 that asked parents or primary caregivers what their child, ages four months to two years, had eaten that particular day.

The study found that up to a third of the children under two consumed no fruits or vegetables and for those who did have a vegetable, French fries were the most common selection for 15-month-old children and older.