Local news claims...

[creekland]

Our local news claims 1 in 3 kids eat either fast food or pizza every day.   :svengo:

 

I seriously would never have guessed it was that high.  There are a few at our school who bring McD's daily for breakfast, but nowhere near making that stat.  Other than those bringing their breakfast to school daily, I can't think of anyone I know who would be that 1, much less 1 in 3.  Perhaps a few who work there grab a bite, but they don't work daily.  So 1 in 3?  Seriously?

[TechWife]

That sounds about right to me. 

[zoobie]

I would've guessed higher given school lunch is often burgers or pizza.

[Mergath]

I'd believe it. One of my neighbors once told me that he doesn't know anyone (besides us, obviously) who doesn't go out for fast food for dinner every night. I'm still flabbergasted by that. My mom's neighbor is a family with small kids too, and like clockwork they leave every evening and come back with bags of fast food.

[Jean in Newcastle]

My former next door neighbor took her toddler to McDonalds every day for breakfast and lunch.  She didn't want to cook.

 

I've had teen friends of my kids who look in horror at our dinner (pretty normal fare) whenever they've been over.  They've said that they eat pizza or McDonalds or some other fast food.  

 

 

[Sherry in OH]

I can believe it.  Children’s sports and activities typically start between 5:30 and 6 in the evening.  A parent who works until 5 pm has just enough time to pick up the child from aftercare, grab dinner at a fast-food drive-through, and get to the activity.  If the child is in a competitive sport, he could have practice three or more evenings a week plus weekends.  A family with multiple children could be on the go every day of the week.

[Wheres Toto]

I wonder I this is partially because of all the activities kids tend to be involved in during the afterschool and evening hours?  If both parents work and kids have to be a soccer or whatever by 5 or 6:00, fast food can seem like the only option.

 

We don't eat fast food very often, usually only if we're out for the whole day.  My kids do probably eat convenience food about 1/2 of the time, especially my son who has sensory issues that make feeding him a bit of a nightmare, so we stick with his acceptable options.

[creekland]

I would've guessed higher given school lunch is often burgers or pizza.

 

Not at our school.  And those that are served are the healthy versions as per fed law.

 

I'd believe it. One of my neighbors once told me that he doesn't know anyone (besides us, obviously) who doesn't go out for fast food for dinner every night. I'm still flabbergasted by that. My mom's neighbor is a family with small kids too, and like clockwork they leave every evening and come back with bags of fast food.

 

Wow.  I can't fathom to be honest and I definitely don't know anyone in that category.  Many might hit it once or twice per week - esp with sports, etc - but not daily.  I might have to remember to ask my classes next week just out of curiosity.

[melmichigan]

After reading that I feel much better about giving in to take out food once every week or two when I have obligations that run to 7 or 8 pm.

[MomatHWTK]

Here's a link to some analysis on the topic:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/09/18/rich-parents-might-look-down-on-fast-food-but-its-actually-their-kids-who-eat-it-the-most/

 

Here is the study being cited in the news stories:

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db213.htm

 

I looked up the definition used for "fast food" out of curiosity (from the CDC's survey definitions):

 

Fast-food consumption: Respondents were asked to identify where they got each food that they reported in the 24-hour dietary recall. The source of food coded as "restaurant fast food/pizza" from the 24-hour dietary recall interview was selected as fast foods for these analyses.

 

 

 

[Lang Syne Boardie]

I know many families who eat out every night, but I don't think they're bringing bags of fast food home. They're more likely to be eating in the car on the way to various activities. And then home nights might involve delivered pizza or something.

 

My kids and I would not survive this, between celiac disease and sensitivity to additives, but I guess it's how a lot of people live now.

[flyingaway]

I'm not surprised. The high school campus here is open for lunch and the kids flood into the fast food places.

 

I find it really hard to feed other kids when we have them over, and I suspect it's because they're so used to eating out. Even my pizza has been turned away from because it's homemade.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Here's a link to some analysis on the topic:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/09/18/rich-parents-might-look-down-on-fast-food-but-its-actually-their-kids-who-eat-it-the-most/

 

Here is the study being cited in the news stories:

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db213.htm

 

I looked up the definition used for "fast food" out of curiosity (from the CDC's survey definitions):

 

Fast-food consumption: Respondents were asked to identify where they got each food that they reported in the 24-hour dietary recall. The source of food coded as "restaurant fast food/pizza" from the 24-hour dietary recall interview was selected as fast foods for these analyses.

How did they extrapolate from a 24 hour dietary recall to a report of daily intake?  Did I miss where they asked if they ate it daily?  Perhaps they did the survey on a Tuesday for example and that happens to be a practice night for most kid's sports or something?  

[lovinmyboys]

Well, I don't know many who do everyday, but a few times a week is pretty common. I swore we would not be one of those families, but turns out we are. With three kids in activities I have found it very difficult to fit in dinner at home. I try to compensate by serving a good breakfast and lunch. Some weeks I do great at packing food for us, then others we eat an embarrassing amount of fast food.

[MomatHWTK]

From the Data Source and Methods section of the survey:

" Dietary information was obtained via an in-person 24-hour dietary recall interview in the MEC. Dietary recalls cover intake for the 24-hour period prior to the interview (midnight to midnight)... Day 1 dietary sample weights—which account for the differential probabilities of selection, nonresponse, and noncoverage—as well as day of the week of dietary recall and nonresponse to the dietary interview, were incorporated into the estimation process."

 

Figure 1 actually presents the percentages, but still doesn't clearly indicate the way "day" was selected, IMO.

 

I did some more searching, the first interview is conducted in-person, a second interview via phone takes place 3-10 days later.  So as far as I can tell, the statistics for a person's presumed average daily intake of fast food is based on two days worth of information.

 

 

 

 

Uh Oh... Here I go:

:rant:

Our society no longer values scientific rigor and has replaced solid information with sound bites.  How can we expect our children to understand and apply hard sciences when we speak in vague summations?  I understand that the CDC probably wanted to make the information understandable to "the common man," but there has to be some balance between publishing every detail of a study and this.  The information provided doesn't give any of us enough information to determine if what is presented is statistically valid. 

:rant:

[SemiSweet]

One out of three sounds insane to me. I don't think I know anyone like that.

 

Sometimes are better than others but we pretty much never eat out more than a couple times a week. I don't really cook breakfast or lunch though, we have stuff on hand that the kids can make, sandwiches, soup, hot dogs, quesadillas, leftovers, cereal, sausage, oatmeal, etc. then I make dinner about 5-6 times a week. I can't imagine eating out that much, I'm prone to being overweight, so I count calories, I don't even want to think about what would happen to my weight if I did that.

[Guest]

Makes sense to me. I have no idea how people work all day, drive kids to all their activities after 5, do homework and any adult meetings and make a real meal. I couldn't do it.

[happypamama]

I could see it. It does seem high, but maybe, if you have two parents working full time and kids in evening activities, especially given that around here, a lot of driving might be involved to get to and from away games. I remember my brother (not around here) having games a couple of nights a week, and if you have a couple of kids in different activities, I can imagine that could be a lot of eating out. And, at least our district's lunch menus looked to be a lot of fast food options, although I haven't looked at them in a while.

 

(This is why I'm very grateful that my children all do the same activity, and that they do it during the homeschool class in the daytime, LOL. Sometimes we will eat lunch out, although I generally grab stuff like crackers, cheese, and fruit from a grocery store instead of fast food. Fast food is crazy expensive, and it doesn't fill my kids up anyway! I hated evening activities, and that's when I just had one child in dance class in the evening. It made dinner time such a hassle.)

[AmandaVT]

Well, that would definitely be a way for me to lose weight, because from experience I get diarrhea 99% of the times we eat fast food.

I know several families who eat at fast food places at least 3 times during the week and more than once on weekends. Usually pizza.

 

Me too - as I was reading through the posts, I was thinking that I'd have to buy stock in Pepto or something or my poor digestive system wouldn't survive!

[Mergath]

Makes sense to me. I have no idea how people work all day, drive kids to all their activities after 5, do homework and any adult meetings and make a real meal. I couldn't do it.

 

I know what you mean. I have one kid with usually no more than one, maybe two activities in a given week, and I'm a sahm. I still often find myself rushing to get dinner on the table, and then rushing again to finish doing the laundry in the evenings, then plopping on the couch exhausted. I think families with two working parents must have a TARDIS hidden somewhere, because I don't know how they could have the time to get everything done, let alone the energy. 

[kewb]

I can believe it. Working parents, kids in various activities. Quick and easy.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I find it just as easy to pick up a rotisserie chicken and a bagged salad and a loaf of bread at the grocery store.  It isn't easy to eat in the car, though.

 

Our family's "fast food" is teriyaki which is ubiquitous around here - but a balanced meal with no pink slime.  

 

I have health problems that can't really tolerate highly processed food so I've had to look outside the McDonald's box.

 

Oh - we do Papa Murphy's on occasion (no more than once a month).  They will give us a gluten free pizza, half cheese, half  no cheese.  And a regular crust pizza, half tomato sauce and half no sauce.  That way we accommodate food allergies but with all the toppings and carbs and fat, it isn't exactly healthy.   

[Mrs. B]

Dh ate fast food for lunch everyday before I saved him by getting married to him and making him go to a doctor only to find out his cholesterol was sky high. He also ate out at restuarants, ordered pizza, or ate frozen TV dinner type meals at dinner. I ate fast food or pizza about 3-4/week as a single. Now we eat something like that about one time/week.

[mathnerd]

A parent who works until 5 pm has just enough time to pick up the child from aftercare, grab dinner at a fast-food drive-through, and get to the activity.  If the child is in a competitive sport, he could have practice three or more evenings a week plus weekends.  A family with multiple children could be on the go every day of the week.

This is the main reason, I think. My DS is in a very competitive year around swim team. Many of the moms of the kids on the team work late (they drop kids off at school around 8:30 am and work until late in the evenings) and the dads go in to work earlier and bring the kids to swim at 5:00 pm and they always bring a McDonald's bag full of food for their kids when they drop them off. This happens 4-5 times a week, sometimes it is a Subway sandwich instead of McD. But, it is always a fast-food bag. I guess that a rigorous sport would require that a kid eat in a timely manner and this is the solution for them.

[Guest]

My son never ate much fast food until high school.  But he also was a very picky eater.  And he is *super* skinny--6'3".  I'm 5'5" and slender and I weigh more than he does right this minute...but maybe not for long...because he has taken to stopping by some pizza joint on the way home from work and he eats the whole medium/large pizza all by himself and I am just THANKFUL.  For one thing, the pickiness is GONE and for another, he needs the fat and calories and I'm a lot happier that it is on a pizza than in chicken nuggets, which WAS the ONLY thing he would EVER eat that wasn't cheese or apples.  And maybe steak or a burger patty (no bread).  He had never had a sandwich until after high school.  So I am HAPPY.  :0)  And a little jealous because I can't eat pizza anymore.  Pooh.  

[abba12]

This is making me feel much better about my shopping-night take-out, and our weekend treat. Generally we have take out twice a week, one dinner, and one lunch or dinner. Having said that, when we do takeout, we often do sushi, or curry from a good quality curry shop, or some sort of asian which is healthier, or subway. 

 

I wonder about their grocery budgets though, that's gotta be an expensive way to eat!

[mamiof5]

And we wonder why child obesity is high, and why kids don't eat real food and fruits and veggies? Ugh!

[LibraryLover]

I would've guessed higher given school lunch is often burgers or pizza.

In Berkeley, CA, our school lunches are organic, grass fed etc. and in all of our schools. We do do not sell soda to our kids. All schools are funded equally, so all students have the same access to free or inexpensive whole food lunch, which includes salad bars ( and burgers and pizza) , from TK ( transition kindly) to high school.

[LibraryLover]

My family does pick up or delivery about once/twice a week. Its excellent food. If we were polled about 'fast food', how would we be calculated? Cooking at home is great, but buying good community food is an option. Also, if you get your kid a salad or a tuna sandwich from a joint, is that really so awful? I've picked up prepared hummus and veggies from markets for my ballet kid. My sil in Europe grabs food from various trucks for her kids as well. I think that some fast/quick food is fine. I haven't been in a McDs in years, but can't one get a salad and apple slices? That seems ok! And what's wrong with a slice of pizza if one isn't gluten free etc?

[Guest]

I can see it. We are a pretty healthy family and with activities three nights a week we are doing Papa Murphy's on Wednesdays, packing the leftovers for lunch of Thursdays, and oftentimes I will grab the kids hamburgers at McDonald's to toss on a plate with apples and carrots for lunch after co op or dance on Friday. The rest tends to be healthy and from scratch, but when I can barely make all the activities, let alone remains standing afterward, fast food becomes easier.

[SKL]

They said one out of three eats fast food on a given day.  It doesn't say anything about certain children eating fast food daily.

 

I would interpret that to mean that an average kid eats fast food about one out of three days.  That might be a meal, or it may be sharing a bag of fries or getting an ice cream.

 

I've been that parent who has little choice but to stop at fast food between destinations.  Instead of shock and horror, it seems to me a healthy response would be to increase the healthy options provided by fast food places.

[Pawz4me]

They said one out of three eats fast food on a given day.  It doesn't say anything about certain children eating fast food daily.

 

I would interpret that to mean that an average kid eats fast food about one out of three days.  That might be a meal, or it may be sharing a bag of fries or getting an ice cream.

 

I've been that parent who has little choice but to stop at fast food between destinations.  Instead of shock and horror, it seems to me a healthy response would be to increase the healthy options provided by fast food places.

 

Yes, exactly.

 

We don't eat much fast food (the last time I remember was at least two months ago), but I don't find this statistic shocking or alarming by any stretch of the imagination, nor do I feel the need to pat myself on the back for being "holier than thou."  Even if we assume what's being consumed are full meals, it would mean the average kid has one fast food meal or pizza out of nine.  That easily fits into my goal for our family of eating well 80 to 90 percent of the time and not worrying about the other 10 to 20 percent.  Plus fast food or pizza doesn't necessarily have to mean totally unhealthy.  It's all about the choices one makes.  Grilled chicken sandwich and side salad?  Ok.  An entree salad (watch the dressing)?  Ok.  A thin crust veggie or cheese pizza?  Ok.  A turkey sub with lots of veggies, light on the mayo or oil?  Ok.

[Jasperstone]

lol, my girls eat fast food NEVER (unless sushi counts) and ds has it maybe 3 or 4 times a year. It's not like I'm lounging about with my bon bons most of the day, either, getting up the energy to cook a meal. Work, study, then I cook.

 

Isn't cooking a meal at home NORMAL ?

 

1 in 3 is shocking to me.

 

Your girls sound like my children.

 

I think my last Maccas (fillet o' fish) was ten years ago when pregnant with my eldest son.

 

I do have their coffee regularly though. :-D

[HomeAgain]

People don't cook here.  There are as many restaurants as there are churches (and as many churches as there are in Rome, nearly).  Most families follow a pattern of activities: Sunday/Weds - Church. Tues/Thurs - kids' activities. Friday - football.  Saturday - games on tv, travel ball, town activity, evening church.

 

People don't cook.  My neighbors pick up the kids from school, do homework, and head out again to that day's activity, getting dinner on the way there or home.

 

As a family, we eat out about twice a month.  The 5yo got a special treat yesterday going to McD's for lunch because I had a lunch meeting myself (he went to a caregiver).  We've found the food isn't up to par at most places.  It's certainly not better than what we make at home, and definitely less fresh/more salty.  Our diet has changed immensely during our marriage.  The first time I had my blood drawn at the hospital here I ate like a local.  My cholesterol was through the roof!  10+ years of slowly getting rid of processed foods and adding more herbs to draw out flavor, and I was just praised for how amazing my numbers are now.

[creekland]

My former next door neighbor took her toddler to McDonalds every day for breakfast and lunch.  She didn't want to cook.

 

I've had teen friends of my kids who look in horror at our dinner (pretty normal fare) whenever they've been over.  They've said that they eat pizza or McDonalds or some other fast food.  

 

My kids friends loved coming here for meals.  ;)  I can't say their favorites were healthy though, but they were home cooked and tasty.

 

From the Data Source and Methods section of the survey:

" Dietary information was obtained via an in-person 24-hour dietary recall interview in the MEC. Dietary recalls cover intake for the 24-hour period prior to the interview (midnight to midnight)... Day 1 dietary sample weights—which account for the differential probabilities of selection, nonresponse, and noncoverage—as well as day of the week of dietary recall and nonresponse to the dietary interview, were incorporated into the estimation process."

 

Figure 1 actually presents the percentages, but still doesn't clearly indicate the way "day" was selected, IMO.

 

I did some more searching, the first interview is conducted in-person, a second interview via phone takes place 3-10 days later.  So as far as I can tell, the statistics for a person's presumed average daily intake of fast food is based on two days worth of information.

 

 

 

 

Uh Oh... Here I go:

:rant:

Our society no longer values scientific rigor and has replaced solid information with sound bites.  How can we expect our children to understand and apply hard sciences when we speak in vague summations?  I understand that the CDC probably wanted to make the information understandable to "the common man," but there has to be some balance between publishing every detail of a study and this.  The information provided doesn't give any of us enough information to determine if what is presented is statistically valid. 

:rant:

 

Thanks for this and I fully agree with your rant.  It's part of why I opted to check it with the Hive - esp since I was close to on my way to bed when I posted.  I can wake up in the morning and have more of a full story.   :coolgleamA:

 

I am doing a little bit of trying to get students to see that science needs to be nuts and bolts facts - not opinions/biases or worse.  One of my classes has a project they are working on and part of it requires scientific processes and data, etc.  We've had discussions about how that can NOT include opinion words or projections, etc, just the facts.

 

They said one out of three eats fast food on a given day.  It doesn't say anything about certain children eating fast food daily.

 

I would interpret that to mean that an average kid eats fast food about one out of three days.  

 

Yes, this is far more believable IME.  Either I heard it incorrectly from the sound bite on the news or they reported it incorrectly.  I think the latter to be honest, but I can't rewind time to see.

 

It's sort of scary to hear of how many on here know/see people buying it daily, but I still doubt that's one in three.  

 

Like some others, I no longer feel guilty with how often we stop by and get something (with or without kids), but then again, I didn't feel guilty at the time either.  I would have if we were doing it daily though!  Even now with my current switch to more healthier eating than before, we still cheat occasionally and sometimes that's fast food or pizza.  It's a great way for me to get enough salt!  :coolgleamA:

[Julie Smith]

We usually run out to fast food every other weekend. But I literally mean run, as in out on my running outfit and running shoes and we all run the 4km to the fast food restaurant and then walk home.

[Garga]

I can see the temptation to rush out and get food on the way to other activities if both parents work and the kids do stuff in the evening.

 

I might even have been that way if we still had 2 incomes. But on one income with minimal activities in the evening, it's not too big of a deal to eat at home, even if it's just tacos or spaghetti.

 

We eat fast food every month or so, and usually because we're on the way to somewhere else. Last time we did it was on the way to the WTM meet up! :) There wasn't time to get our 3Rs done that morning and also cook/eat at home (since my guys detest cold food, so no sandwiches.) They were embarrassed by the thought of me cooking their lunch in the church gym in front of everyone (ds is 13 now), so we got McDs, which is the only fast food place in town. If I had thought it through better, I'd have prepared a hot dish to bring to the meetup, but...dh being in the sling has kept me racing just to get the minimums done around here. No hot dish to the WTM meetup!

 

I can understand the temptation, but as a parent I would fret about the health issues.

[Joyofsixreboot]

I would say most of my kids' peers eat it at least once a day if not more.

[Mrs. B]

My family does pick up or delivery about once/twice a week. Its excellent food. If we were polled about 'fast food', how would we be calculated? Cooking at home is great, but buying good community food is an option. Also, if you get your kid a salad or a tuna sandwich from a joint, is that really so awful? I've picked up prepared hummus and veggies from markets for my ballet kid. My sil in Europe grabs food from various trucks for her kids as well. I think that some fast/quick food is fine. I haven't been in a McDs in years, but can't one get a salad and apple slices? That seems ok! And what's wrong with a slice of pizza if one isn't gluten free etc?

I am not sure on this, but I heard the salads and apples at fast food places are treated with a bunch of extra preservatives or chemicals to keep them looking crisp, fresh, and natural color. So it's not like making a salad or slicing an apple at home.

[Guest]

I agree with the pp's rant about scientific rigor and public-speak.

 

But no matter how you slice and dice the numbers, people are eating outrageous amounts of fast food! Those companies didn't get mega rich because everyone treats fast food as an occasional treat or compromise.

[DawnM]

My son's charter doesn't have a cafeteria.  They cater in fast food.

 

A typical week is:

 

Chick-Fil-A

Burger King

Pizza Place

Subway

Taco something or other

 

Because it isn't made by the school, the prices are really high ($6-$7 for a full lunch).  I allow my son $7 per week.  I still pack him a drink, a veggie, a fruit, and some chips of some sort.  He typically picks Chick Fil A and gets the chicken sandwich for $4.  He uses the other $3 for a large slice of pizza on pizza day. 

[Carrie12345]

Ack!!!  :huh:

 

I think it's probably a lot lower in my immediate area.  We have a pizzeria 2 miles down the road and we recently got a Dominos, DnD, Subway, and (real) burger joint about 6 miles down the mountain.  Any other fast food options are 10+ miles away.  It's much quicker to boil some pasta and grill some chicken!

[HomeAgain]

Our public schools here make their sugar-filled breakfast mandatory for all students.  The lunches aren't much better.  My one child in school would rather bike home and have a hot lunch or bring his own than touch anything they make.

[Katy]

My son's charter doesn't have a cafeteria.  They cater in fast food.

 

A typical week is:

 

Chick-Fil-A

Burger King

Pizza Place

Subway

Taco something or other

 

Because it isn't made by the school, the prices are really high ($6-$7 for a full lunch).  I allow my son $7 per week.  I still pack him a drink, a veggie, a fruit, and some chips of some sort.  He typically picks Chick Fil A and gets the chicken sandwich for $4.  He uses the other $3 for a large slice of pizza on pizza day. 

 

My high school did this too.  There was still regular cafeteria food available, but most kids choose the fast food every day, and the price was the same. I hear now it's been extended down to the middle school, so I have no doubt that statistic is true from school lunches alone.

 

Recently we were at a friend's house one morning just before the school bus picked up the neighborhood kids on their corner.  Out of 8 kids there, only ONE appeared to be a normal weight.  The rest all appeared to be at least 50% higher weight than they should have been, and some probably 150% higher. This was in a middle-middle class neighborhood. The only thing that I can think that has changed that much in one generation is food.

[DawnM]

My high school did this too.  There was still regular cafeteria food available, but most kids choose the fast food every day, and the price was the same. I hear now it's been extended down to the middle school, so I have no doubt that statistic is true from school lunches alone.

 

Recently we were at a friend's house one morning just before the school bus picked up the neighborhood kids on their corner.  Out of 8 kids there, only ONE appeared to be a normal weight.  The rest all appeared to be at least 50% higher weight than they should have been, and some probably 150% higher. This was in a middle-middle class neighborhood. The only thing that I can think that has changed that much in one generation is food.

 

I think activity has changed as well.  Kids used to play outside more, even into the teen years.  Now they sit around and play video games or text or sit and talk.

 

Your catered food was the same price as your reg. food?  If my son were in a regular public school, a full lunch would be $2.65.  The catered meal (all things included) is $7.  That is a huge difference.

 

Dawn

[Heatherwith4]

We have been eating fast food waaaaaay too much around here lately. It's not healthy, and it's way too expensive. We eat it primarily when we have evening activities. I have been off my meal planning game for a while now. However, we do not eat it every day, not by a long shot.

 

I was just telling the kids that we are going to be tapering off. I told them that I would like to save our money for sit-down meals that we can all enjoy together at places where higher quality food will be served. Scarfing down Happy Meals on the way from the gym to church does not qualify as fun, which is what eating out was supposed to be in my mind.

[Katy]

I think activity has changed as well.  Kids used to play outside more, even into the teen years.  Now they sit around and play video games or text or sit and talk.

 

Your catered food was the same price as your reg. food?  If my son were in a regular public school, a full lunch would be $2.65.  The catered meal (all things included) is $7.  That is a huge difference.

 

Dawn

 

Yes, it was the same price.  Though I think even then school meals were $3.50 or $4, depending on the choice.  And that was in the 90's.

[creekland]

We usually run out to fast food every other weekend. But I literally mean run, as in out on my running outfit and running shoes and we all run the 4km to the fast food restaurant and then walk home.

 

This would literally take all the fun out of it!   :glare:

 

For those who only have fast food in their schools...  :svengo:

 

I take my own lunch to school every single day, but I have to admit the salad, taco, and pasta bar tend to look tempting at times.  (These bars rotate, we don't have all of them every day.)  Then there are a couple different meal choices.

[linders]

An acquaintance of DS12's eats frozen pizza for dinner 6 our of 7 nights. His mom is an excellent cook, makes good things for her and her DH, but kiddo is the pickiest child I've ever met.

[LucyStoner]

I believe it. My kids eat pizza at least once a week (homemade but yeah, it's pizza) and they probably have fast food about once a week on average (often with friends or other family). That's quite a lot and they eat it way less than many kids I know. My brother and his husband rely on a fair bit of take out because three soccer teams means they are out of the house most nights of the week.