Restaurants and Food Chains Hop on the Low-Fat Bandwagon

As the obesity epidemic becomes more widespread, the pressure is on for food and restaurant companies to make children's meals more healthful by reformulating the fat, calorie, and carbohydrate in foods such as cookies and French fries. Restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday's will start serving grilled chicken and turkey with sides of mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli on the kids' menu. These meals will easily have fewer calories and less fat than the burgers, chicken strips, and French fries that kids are used to ordering.

JR Simplot Co, manufacturer of French fries for school lunches, will introduce a reformulated version that will be baked, not fried, and that will not contain artery-clogging trans fats. These measures are in response to the increasing incidence of obesity among schoolchildren. Approximately 15% of children and adolescents in the United States are considered overweight.