Healthier side dishes at restaurants: an analysis of children’s perspectives, menu content, and energy impacts

Table 4 Reductions in kid's meal energy content when substituting FV side dishes for French fries, in 11 restaurants offering French fries and at least 1 common FV side dish

	N	Mean calories ± SD	Range	Calories saved vs. fries ± SD	Range of calorie savings
Fries^a	11	277 ± 105	100-440	n/a	n/a
Apple slices^b	6	68 ± 48	15-140	171 ± 74	85-290
Apple sauce	2	70 ± 28	40-90	300 ± 71	250-350
Broccoli	3	58 ± 45	25-109	283 ± 128	160-415
Mashed potatoes^b	2	135 ± 7	130-140	180 ± 156	70-290
Salad^b	3	65 ± 39	40-110	242 ± 148	90-385

^aIncludes French fries, waffle fries, curly fries, and tater tots.
^bIncludes dipping sauce, gravy, or dressing when indicated in nutrition facts (n = 6).
Note: Substitutions were calculated within restaurants and then averaged across the total sample of restaurants for that FV side dish item. QSR and FSR are included. The analysis excludes baked cinnamon apple slices which, at 270 calories, were an outlier. When included, the overall mean calories for apples increase to 97 ± 88, and mean calories saved via substitution decrease to 136 ± 113, and the range expands to -70-290. The analysis includes one restaurant in which French fries and apples are served together by default, illustrating the energy reduction that could be achieved if only apples were offered. If this restaurant were excluded, the overall mean calories for apples increase to 79 ± 45, mean calories saved via substitution increase to 188 ± 68, and the range narrows to 110–290.

ISSN: 1479-5868