Fast foods nowadays seem to consider a healthier approach on their campaign. Weight Watchers, an international company that offers various dieting products and services to assist weight loss, recently teamed-up with Mc Donald’s New Zealand by putting their seal on three meals. These Weight Watchers Approved Meals are:
- Fillet-O-Fish Meal with salad and drink
- 6 pieces Chicken McNuggets with salad and drink
- Sweet Chili Seared Chicken Wrap with drink
Through Weight watchers Point Tracking System, points are assigned to each food item and members of their program track their daily food consumption by adding-up these points. The recommended total daily point ranges from 18 to 40 depending on different factors such as goal, weight, gender, age, etc. The 3 Weight Watchers Approved meals of Mc Donald’s were assigned 6.5 points each.
According to Mc Donald’s New Zealand, Weight Watchers has nutritional standards that they need to adhere to. A good example would be reducing the fat content of the three food items to over 50% to be able to meet the low fat requirement.
This partnership can be viewed as a good indication in promoting a healthy lifestyle through food. It is more likely that other fast food companies would be joining the bandwagon soon. However, critics are stressing that low fat and low calorie shouldn’t be the only basis for a food item to be considered healthy. Factors such as nutrients and sodium content must also be accounted for.
In my opinion, the inclusion of healthy food items in fast food restaurants (like what Mc Donald’s New Zealand did) is a good start in promoting a healthy lifestyle. Since the majority dine in fast food joints, it is likely that more people will be influenced. Although there are still some arguments on how “Healthy food” should be defined, it is better to roll-out the initial set of food items based on the current health standards rather than wait until everything is agreed upon. All requirements cannot be implemented on the first release anyway – modifications can easily be added as time goes by.
What do you think?