Adolescent calorie/fat menu ordering at fast food restaurants compared to other restaurants

Childhood and adolescent obesity is an increasing public health problem. Fast food consumption has been linked to obesity. The purpose of this study is to determine adolescent calorie and fat consumption patterns at different types of restaurants.

Study subjects (104 adolescents) were asked to order a dinner meal from 10 restaurant menus with an estimate of how much they would actually consume. A paired T-test was used to compare the calories and fat values for each restaurant vs. McDonald's.

Mean calories/fat (g) ordered at each restaurant were: California Pizza Kitchen (CPK).: 1284/70, Chili's (Ch). 1333/62, Denny's (Den): 1226/61, McDonald's (MD): 1016/45, Outback Steakhouse (OS): 1656/93, Panda Express (PE): 873/29, Red Lobster (RL): 1016/49, Stuart Anderson's (SA). 1058/52, Taco Bell (TB): 800/34, Wendy's (Wen): 879/32. Calorie/fat content of the ordered items were significantly higher at CPK, Ch, Den, and OS compared to McDonald's. RL and SA were not significantly different from MD. Calorie/fat content of the ordered items were significantly lower at PE, TB and Wen compared with McDonald's.

More calories/fat were ordered at many sit down restaurants compared to McDonald's. The lowest calories/fat were ordered at other fast food restaurants (Taco Bell, Wendy's and Panda Express).