title: Well, that's what came with it. A qualitative study of U.S. mothers' perceptions of healthier default options for children's meals at fast-food restaurants.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Using a qualitative design, this study investigated mothers' perceptions of food choices and default options, for children, at fast-food restaurants.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mothers of 3- to 8-year-old children (n = 40) participated in phone interviews.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mothers praised fast-food restaurants for offering healthier choices, but voiced concerns about quality of the food. Half worried about meat products and several were distressed by the processing involved with food and beverages. Many said that their children wanted to visit fast-food restaurants because of advertised toys and not food offerings. Half liked bundled meals, as long as they could choose the specific items that were included. Having healthier defaults might eliminate battles, reduce forgetfulness and facilitate ordering. Most mothers favored healthier defaults because it would help "other parents."
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This small study provides strong support for offering healthier options at fast-food restaurants. Restaurants, schools and other food venues should design children's meals that make the healthy choice the easy choice.
authors.affiliation: Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health, 400 Hamilton Avenue, Suite #340, Palo Alto, CA 94301, United States. Electronic address: hollykhenry@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Holly K M
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Henry
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral and Community Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, 2242 Valley Drive, Room 2346, College Park, MD 20742, United States.
authors.forename: Dina L G
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Borzekowski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002755:Choice Behavior; D057140:Fast Foods; D005260:Female; D006262:Health; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D062407:Meals; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers; D009753:Nutritive Value; D010465:Perception; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012147:Restaurants; D014481:United States
keywords: Children; Default; Fast food; Obesity; Toy promotions