If you think that ordering a Spokane Fast Food kids meal might save you on calories, fat and salt because it is smaller, think again.

On Monday, August 11, a non profit public health group released a study highlighting kids fast food choices. Over all, parents are left with very few healthy choices. Nearly every possible combination of the children’s meals at Taco Bell, Jack in the Box Sonic, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Chick-fil-A are too high in calories, the report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest said. Spokane fast food restaurants are included.

Examining the nutritional content of kids meals at 13 major restaurant chains, the center found 93 percent of 1,474 possible choices at the 13 chains exceed 430 calories — an amount that is one-third of what the National Institute of Medicine recommends that children ages 4 through 8 should consume in a day.

For example, Chili’s Bar and Grill, including Spokane’s Chili’s, has 700 possible kids’ meal combinations, but 94 percent, or 658, of those are too high in calories. One Chili’s meal composed of country-fried chicken crispers, cinnamon apples and chocolate milk contained 1,020 calories, while another composed of cheese pizza, homestyle fries, and lemonade contained 1,000 calories.

The “Big Kid’s” Meal at any Spokane Burger King which includes a double cheeseburger, fries, and chocolate milk at 910 calories, and Spokane Sonic’s have a “Wacky Pack” with 830 calories worth of grilled cheese, fries, and a slushie. While there are healthy choices to be found, parents have to navigate a minefield of salt, fat, and calories to find them. The report also found that 45 percent of children’s meals exceed recommendations for saturated and trans fat, which can raise blood cholesterol levels and increase the risk of heart disease, and 86 percent of children’s meals are high in sodium.

Six restaurants, all found in Spokane (Applebee’s, TGIFriday’s, Outback Steakhouse, Olive Garden, Red Lobster and IHOP), weren’t included in the report because they do not disclose nutrition information about their meals even when asked, the center said. Other Spokane restaurant chains included in the report are Wendy’s, Dairy Queen, Arby’s and Denny’s.

The report recommends that all restaurants start including more fruit and vegetables,whole grain foods, and reformulate all meals to have fewer calories, saturated and trans fat, and salt, with choices like fruit and vegetables and low fat milk the default sides instead of French Fries and soda.

They also suggested that restaurants add nutrition on menus and menu boards. New York and San Francisco are among the cities and localities that have adopted menu labeling policies. Hopefully Spokane Fast Food Restaurants will follow suit.

Who’d have thunk it - four formerly shunned snacks that may actually be good for you?

Let’s talk saturated fats. Did you know there are more than 15 types of saturated fats? Even though they’ve been condemned as a whole by nutrition experts for years, a few of them are actually heart healthy.

Bad Foods Gone Good

Pork Rinds - These puffy, crispy snacks are actually, just as the name says, made from cut pigskin. And then most are deep fried. Sounds really fattening. However in comparison to other snacks this one isn’t bad.

A 1-ounce serving contains zero-carbohydrates, 17 grams of protein, and 9 grams fat. That is 9 times the protein and less fat then you would find in a serving of carb-packed potato chips.

Even better, 43% of a pork rind’s fat is unsaturated, and most of that is oleic acid—the same healthy fat found in olive oil. Another 13% of its fat content is stearic acid, a type of saturated fat that is considered harmless, because it doesn’t raise cholesterol levels.

Best option—look for pork rinds that are puffed in a microwave or baked instead of fried, these are lower in calories and less greasy.

Beef Jerky - It’s given a bad rep as an unhealthy meat that is loaded with preservatives and salt.

In reality is high in protein and doesn’t raise your levels of insulin (a hormone that signals your body to store fat). That makes it an ideal between-meals snack. While some beef-jerky brands are packed with high-sodium ingredients, such as MSG and sodium nitrate, all-natural ingredient products are available.

Check the label for brands that are made from all-natural ingredients and from lean, grass-fed beef.

Sour Cream - At first glance, you would see that 90% of its calories are derived from fat, at least half of which are saturated. However, if you really dig into the numbers, the percentage of fat is high, but the total amount isn’t. A typical serving of sour cream is only 2 tablespoons. That contains just 52 calories and less saturated fat than you’d get from drinking a 12-ounce glass of 2% reduced-fat milk.

Coconut - Ounce for ounce coconut contains more saturated fats than butter. Despite this, coconut appears to have a beneficial effect on heart-disease risk factors. Why? More than 50% of its saturated fat content is lauric acid. A recent analysis of 60 studies published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports that even though lauric acid raised LDL (bad) cholesterol, it boosts HDL (good) cholesterol even more. Overall, that means it decreases your risk of cardiovascular disease.

Best option for an anytime snack - shredded, unsweetened coconut.

But don’t gorge, it is still fairly high in calories.