Qualitative-quantitative analysis of children's menus offered in family and fast food restaurants in Santiago, Chile

Childhood obesity in Chile is at its highest history level of food consumption away from home and it is becoming more frequent; in turn, infant food offer is being questioned in the world by its relationship to childhood obesity and its unhealthy characteristics. In this study 45 children's menus of family and fast food restaurants were evaluated, conducting a qualitative and quantitative analysis. The obtained results showed that most of the menus exceeded nutritional recommendations in fat and sodium, and 40% of them provided over 800 calories, considered half of energy recommendations for a child per day. In conclusion, the energy input supplied by the analyzed infant menus exceeds the requirements of children, there is no direct relationship between price and nutritional quality, and the children's menus have few healthy properties, 80% being classified as bad or very bad according to Chilean Dietary Guidelines 2013.