McDonald's Ditches Soda In Happy Meal Menus

disneygallagirl

I will take my kids to McD's for a treat/happy meal - but I never let them them pick pop (seriously, I don't need them on a sugar high, LOL)- I figured nuggets and fries were enough plus the toy! I am guessing you could still order pop if you wanted it. I think it is mostly about awareness and working to offer healthier choices. Moderation is key.

kittymari

our area McDonalds, have always offered, water, milk, juice instead of pop. Pop is a choice, we as parents choose to give children, Apple slices have been given along with a smaller fry, for a long time now.
When we go to McDonalds, its a treat, so if I my children are good, they get pop as a reward.

Things in moderation are not always bad.

myprana

I rarely take my kids to McDonald's (once every couple of years or so) and I'd never give them the choice of drinking soda anyway, so I don't really have a dog in this fight. I think it's nice that a company associated with the obesity problem is making a positive effort (though is juice really that much better?).

Are that many parents really going to be complaining about not being able to buy their kid a soft drink? I thought soda was going out of fashion.

SezxyStef

As juice frequently has similar calories as soda this as guessed is just a PR exercise to appease the Soda is the work of the devil crowd.

The occasional Soda as part of a balanced diet is no problem

My thoughts exactly.

Me too....

Deipneus

Well this will not work and will not last. As a parent we treat McDonalds and Happy meals as a treat or reward and part of the treat is having a soda. I'll give it a few weeks and people will be screaming or going somewhere else.

Ouch. This sounds like unintentional obesity training for kids. The danger is that kids come to associate food with approval and love and want more of it than is good for them. I like to reward the kids with something other than food.

I love it when people over react.

bcattoes

Sigh. Another example if not being able to have nice things. I'm a grown up, I can make my own grownup choices for myself and any kids I may have, and I don't need options cut out/not advertised in order to herd me towards more "healthy" choices.

Sometimes I like to get a mcnugget happy meal and a soda. Nothing wrong with that.

While I agree with the last sentence, the first made me both laugh and cringe. McD offering what they consider to be healthier options means we can not have "nice things"? Oh Lord, what has this world come to when one less soda offered = no nice things.

sheenarama

I am now craving a McDonalds fountain Coke!!

Geojerm

You can get pop with a happy meal? (That's right POP - I'm canadian)

My daughter wants milk with her meal, and doesn't like french fries,

I think it's great that she can get (and more importanty wants to eat) apple slices instead of french fries.

Plus they get a yogurt with their meal.

They can even get a grilled cheese instead of mcNuggets, which she doesn't like anyway

boophil

Well this will not work and will not last. As a parent we treat McDonalds and Happy meals as a treat or reward and part of the treat is having a soda. I'll give it a few weeks and people will be screaming or going somewhere else.

I agree. I take my daughter out once a month to McDonald's and once a month to Subway. She likes to have soda with her meals (I don't keep it in the house, so it is a nice little treat for her). Some of our local Subway restaurants will not let you order a soda with the Kids-Fit Meals, yet she can order chocolate milk. DD got very upset when she couldn't have her root beer!

mom2kpr

Pop will still be an option for the happy meal, it just won't be listed as an option. You can still order it. Like others have said, we rarely eat fast food - usually just when traveling or when schedules get unexpectedly changed. When we do, I usually allow my kids to pick what they want. They are active & healthy. Like us, we sometime save our calories for a treat, kids can do the same.

kitujainen

Oh, really so they will be substituting soda with something more unhealthy and fattening.. i suppose that is their strategy

SoDamnHungry

Sigh. It's so sad that people need to be forced into a healthy lifestyle. Like others said, McDonald's should be a treat.

TripleJ3

You can still order a soda with the Happy Meal, they are just changing what they offer that comes with it. If you want to get a soda with it.....order it. People get all worked up over nothing......

BlueBombers

I let my kids have a soda once in a while but normally they get milk with their Happy Meals (once in a while treat as well).

NewCaddy

If they really wanted the kids to "drink" healthier, they wouldn't do an up charge for milk. My daughter and son always asked for chocolate milk when we would treat out to McDonalds. Before we knew it there was an upcharge if they selected anything other than the soda. We paid it, but it was irritating.

I'm all for moderation. I had friends that were never allowed "bad" food or drinks when they were growing up and they went hog wild in college. If we teach our kids how to eat "healthy" most of the time but that it's okay to have treats every now and then as long, I believe they will be better for it when they get older.

PBsMommy

Ehhhh, Micky D's has always and always will be a once in a blue moon type deal for my daughter and me... The hubs is a different story.

The ones near my house have been offering apple slices or fruit cups as an alternative to fries for quite a long time, along with milk or juice.

However, I am not to huge of a fan of fruit juice. It has just as much sugar as soda, but gives my daughter the holy crappers as a bonus.. I usually get her milk or chocolate milk as a treat instead...

doorki

If they really wanted the kids to "drink" healthier, they wouldn't do an up charge for milk. My daughter and son always asked for chocolate milk when we would treat out to McDonalds. Before we knew it there was an upcharge if they selected anything other than the soda. We paid it, but it was irritating.

I'm all for moderation. I had friends that were never allowed "bad" food or drinks when they were growing up and they went hog wild in college. If we teach our kids how to eat "healthy" most of the time but that it's okay to have treats every now and then as long, I believe they will be better for it when they get older.

My kids have McDonalds every Sunday on the way home from church. There is no upcharge for milk, or even chocolate milk, because it is offered as an option. I have never been offered soda with a kids meal.

All of that aside, let's be honest and admit that we are not taking our kids to McDonalds for a healthy meal. It is a treat, (and yes, going out to a restaurant is the treat rather than "rewarding with food") and not an everyday event in a healthy diet.

justal313

Seriously, who goes to McDonalds to eat healthy?

BinaryPulsar

My kids are 6 and 9 and they absolutely hate soda. They think it is an "adult" drink because my husband drinks it. I know this isn't really addressing the topic. If I take my kids to a party and all they have is soda my kids will choose water. They like juice, milk, or chocolate milk. So, just saying that soda is not experienced universally as a "treat" to kids. My kids would think I was torturing them if I made them drink soda, they would cry. Maybe it's genetic (joking) because I don't like soda either, but I don't hate it the way they do.

But, with that said sometimes we get a soda with their happy meal, and my husband drinks the soda.

prettigirl01

Sigh. Another example if not being able to have nice things. I'm a grown up, I can make my own grownup choices for myself and any kids I may have, and I don't need options cut out/not advertised in order to herd me towards more "healthy" choices.

Sometimes I like to get a mcnugget happy meal and a soda. Nothing wrong with that.

I agree 100%