What age to switch from a Happy Meal?

[RhubarbThumb]

My DS is 6 (7 in March) and went with a school friend swimming, and went for McDonald's after and the other boy (was 7 in October) was bought an adults medium meal.

Is 7ish the age? I was thinking maybe 11/12??

My 12yo DS still has one sometimes, although he usually has an extra e.g. chicken nugget HM plus a hamburger.

I'd say he first had an adult meal 10-11 but doesn't always want one.

Morley's is definitely superior.

Meh, I always buy the 20 nuggets and then fries each. My 6 yr old gets the smallest fries. The. The 20 nuggets shared with two older ones. My 6 yr old usually has five or 6 nuggets. So I’d say the happy meal is a little small.

Dd is 22 and has a happy meal if it is for lunch... she likes the tat. For dinner she'd have something bigger.

My 7 year old eats adult portions of every meal 😆 but my niece also 7 eats like a sparrow and 2 chicken nuggets would do her. So conclude it depends on the child.

Entirely depends on the kid.

My 14 year old has a medium meal, my 12 year old has a burger and nuggets (no chips - he doesn't like them), I think they both swapped from happy meals at about the same time (youngest doesn't like being left behind) - so eldest would have been about 10, and the youngest about 7...

It was about 8/9 with my two

Mmm. Assuming by real food you mean non UPF or similar? Or if not, what else do you mean by ‘shite’? I doubt many on here are giving their children McDonalds everyday… Think you’d be hard pressed finding even a ‘healthy’ cafe/restaurant that didn’t serve UPF bread or chips. At least the burger is just meat. Children can still eat McDonalds occasionally and have a balanced diet. It is an easy option when out and about which kids enjoy (and I do make my own burgers, bread and chips at home so my kids aren’t too full of shite!)

7/8. They'd likely be a bit embarrassed to be in year 6 and still getting a happy meal if anyone they know saw them with a toy and mini chips

That’s hilarious, of course I do all that and more 😂

I never bothered with the Happy Meals. When mine were little they just got those small burgers from the saver menu and I would share out fries between them all based on their appetites at the time. There is something off about how you keep calling it an "adult meal". They're all just meals of various sizes. There is no point where food becomes "adult". A Happy Meal is just a small meal with plastic tat.

500 calories in a happy meal, the average 7 year old needs 1,500 so it's a third of their daily requirement.

I might get them an ice cream as well if they were very hungry. Kids meals until 10 here.

Almost 200 of the calories in the option you linked come fom the orange juice which isn't the healthiest option.

me too im 38 lol.

My ds is 9 and has been having a Big Mac meal for quite a while now. Probably at least 2 years.

Bit of a pointless thread then, if despite multiple people telling you to use basic commonsense and there is no set age to move on to a bigger meal you are just going to carry on as you were

Or was it just a thinly veiled excuse to judge both your DS's friend's weight and other people's parenting?

In france the happy meal comes with a beautiful hardback book. Off topic but, well. You can have a beer with an adult meal there, too.

I'm 49 and I still get one 🤷

6 year old will still eat a happy meal, 10 year old went to the bigger meals about 2 years ago. Then usually both want a mini McFlurry afterwards.

I’ve never even thought about this 🤣🤣 my 6 almost 7 year old rarely has one as I think they are a rip off for what you get. He has burger and large fries much cheaper. If I buy a happy meal I have to buy extra chips as well which is so annoying.

Depends on how much they want the toy!

I would have thought until they started school. Then move on to a burger and fries with a drink.

My daughter is 7. Over the past 6 months she has changed from being excited about a happy meal to wondering where the rest is. She has a massive appetite but she is on the go constantly so I don’t mind. She’s very slim and looks like she doesn’t eat enough but she definitely does. She has as my mum would say…hollow legs! I don’t think you can judge a happy meal on the kids age, it is most definitely based on appetite. Especially with the price of meals nowadays, even at McDonald’s I’d rather pay that bit extra so my child can have a full tummy rather than paying less for a happy meal and her being hungry afterwards.

11 year old DSD still has a happy meal. She is happy with it. If she asked for something else then I would get that but she is rather partial to the fish fingers which aren’t on the adult menu. She does steal DS’s odd fish finger.

Don't go to McDonald's at all,or any other fast food places. The nutritional value is garbage and the cost is ridiculous. Seriously the food is loaded with sugar, salt, and worse. I work in a food testing lab and the fast food chain stuff is so bad with anything deep fried being the worst for saturated fats and free radicals.