Healthy foods for kids

Have you heard about the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative? It's a voluntary self-regulation program consisting of many of the top children's food and beverage producers, including: Burger King Corp.; Cadbury Adams, USA, LLC; Campbell Soup Company, The Coca-Cola Company, General Mills, Inc.; The Hershey Company, Kellogg Company, Kraft Foods Inc.; Mars, Inc.; McDonald's USA, PepsiCo, Inc. and Unilever United States. It is estimated that these companies accounted for more than two-thirds of children's food and beverage television advertising expenditures in 2004.

You can read the specifics of the company pledges at: http://www.cbbb.org/initiative/pledges.asp For example, Burger King pledges that by the end of 2008 advertising directed primarily to children under 12 will be for Kids Meals that meet the following nutrition criteria:
- No more than 560 calories per meal
- Less than 30 percent of calories from fat
- Less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fat
- No added trans fats
- No more than 10 percent of calories from added sugars

Other companies have similar pledges designed to make consumers feel better about feeding their children at fast food restaurants. Children's meals that come with milk and applesauce instead of soda and french fries is definitely a step in the right direction. Of course, it's even better to serve home-cooked meals that include vegetables as well as fruit, but in today's busy lifestyle fast food is a fact of life for many families.

What do you think about this initiative? Do you think it will help reduce childhood obesity and encourage our kids to choose healthier foods, or is it just an advertising gimmick?