to let DS have a McDonald's each week?

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DS is a swimmer and swims with a squad that's 45 mins away. He starts training at 6:30 and comes out at 8 (pm btw) and it's very convenient for this day. He is healthy and slim and on all the other days has a good, balanced diet.

Is this seriously so bad?

I think regarding it as a treat sheds lot of light on the problem. Why is crappy, mass produced, poor quality food seem as a 'treat'? Other cultures seek high quality ingredients and skilled cookery in their treats.

@nakedscientist Yes I do accept the point that there is a health crisis in this country and kids are eating a very poor diet. DH and I very rarely get fast food for our DDs and they are fit, healthy and love sports (they're 8 and 5). I did say I think once a week is excessive, but convenience food after swimming makes sense as finding time to cook would be tricky. I give my DDs pizza from Asda after swimming (though we insist on serving plenty of veg, which they have to eat).
But we also have a serious problem with eating disorders in this country, with even young children suffering from them. I have a mild eating disorder myself, thanks to being horribly lectured by my DM in particular about being fat and needing to go on a diet. We need to be very careful as what messages we're giving our kids; my DM had the best of intentions, after all.

'A bit of what you fancy' is the way to go, they will hear their friends going on about McDonalds and they will want to go; our girls ask to go. Motorway services are great for that treat!

Cleocat.....I don't think I said that all people who don't eat McDonald's have food issues...so I'm not sure why it's been interpreted that way.
I haven't eaten meat since I was 6, yet I often have the McD veggie burger & fries! My kids on the other hand do eat meat, and I don't have an issue with them having the occasional McD. It's not really a big deal to be honest, each to their own.

It seems normal and a treat to go to McDs (and similar) at the moment because so many people do it and its easy and cheap. Like it was normal (easy and cheap) to smoke in the 70s. If you are too young to remember that everyone smoked, DH's mum put fags in his lunchbox!

I think in 20-30 years time we will look back with surprise that we did eat so much junk. It is time to change the mindset that its OK and normal to treat our kids with highly processed, fatty, sugary food.

Yes that's true, smoking was commonplace when I was growing up too. A curious contradiction there, though; French people apparently are very careful to have good quality food (not untrue as it happens) but there has always been far more smoking there. I studied in France; I remember once asking for non-smoking when buying a ticket and was seated in a smoking carriage. I queried this, apparently there were no spaces left in non-smoking, the day before my journey. And no apology either, it just wasn't seen as an issue.

Every country has their own health issues.

I work in a McDonalds. It's not poison, it's the same as any other burger you'd make yourself. There are no funny preservatives or chemicals you wouldn't find in supermarket food anyway - you read articles about fries having 13 ingredients but that's for US McDonalds, the UK branches are different.

The only things to worry about are the calories, which is fine if he's not overweight, and the salt and sat fat, which is fine if he eats great the other 6 days a week.

I eat there myself a lot because they let you make yourself food during your break. I'm not worried about the fatty salty burgers though cause I'm a vegetarian I still get the chips and/or veggie burger most shifts and I'm fine (BMI of 20)

Once a week has isn't a treat, it's 'normal' life.

I was brought up on wholemeal bread and lentils before it was cool. We didn't have cordial to drink, or biscuits, or cake unless my mum baked them. I eat healthily and in the same manner as an adult. I think people say eating healthily and it breeds obsession to get them off the hook for crap choices.

I agree with u don'tcallmethat, it's an excuse. Conversely I was brought up with many unhealthy foods as my mum made this same argument. Really it was quick and/or convenient for her. I have since educated myself about healthy - and ethical - choices. Please watch the award-winning Food inc film if you didn't already. So although obsessive views are not healthy, neither is incorporating these foods going to lead to balanced eating. I resort to familiar high fat high salt and sugar foods when I'm not being attentive. It's just a story to tell yourself to let yourself off the hook, rather than be accountable for the impact - both individual and global.

Actually incoporating all foods is the essence of balanced eating. And smug off.

I eat there myself a lot because they let you make yourself food during your break.

We get free food too, but we can't make it ourselves!

It's bad because there are a wide variety of superior takeaways out there. The taste of a McDonalds is poor and generally contains a lot of salt and fat and the portions are tiny.

A active kid, or adult for that matter can pretty much get away with eating whatever.

DS (14) just started his first summer job as a lumberjack. (USA) he is burning a huge amount of energy and has turned into a walking trash can!

He could probably eat all the McDonald's he wants!

He came home yesterday ate an entire jar of of jam on cheese! He hates cheese!!.....his response when I pointed that out was "meh, it will make a turd"

Its very tasty processed crap isn't it. Very moreish. Once a week would not hurt an active healthy child in the least

I actually think that the obesity crisis has more to do with kids becoming a lot less active. They spend far too much time on their iPads and much less time outdoors than they used to. Junk food won't hurt a child who is active and sporty provided it's in moderation, but so many are not active these days.

Andtakeyourhorse - nutritionally balanced is not the same thing as a mix of nutritionally healthy and poor food choices. Smugging off now.

I think you're right in part too mitrens we grow up on sugar drinks, sugar added to cereals and hot drinks, butter, did fried in lard, cakes, sausages rolls etc. Lots of "junk". But we were skinny.

1 we played or every say for hours
2 we were given less food.

I try to eat organic and local food as much as possible and have no problem eating at McDonald's, though stick to the beef and fish.
McDonald's shares a lot of beef abattoirs with M&S, McDs take the front half and M&S take the back. So the beef in your burger is from the same cows as your ready meal lasagne. McDs chicken is from Brazil, Thailand and the UK, no worse than the cheap crap in UK supermarkets.
And McDs head office execs (including supply chain) happily eat the food for lunch knowing exactly where and how it's sourced.

Andtakeyourhorse - nutritionally balanced is not the same thing as a mix of nutritionally healthy and poor food choices. Smugging off now

Actually it is, once you realise that you've believed a lot of myths about things like McDonalds, and that its not a particularly poor food choice. It's real meat, its not as high in salt or fat as you think it is etc.

I agree with blueink and dontcallme that the anecdata about restriction leading to obsession is just a convenient mumsnet myth that makes people feel better about their choices

I've never seen a single case of this in real life. What I've seen is that the kids who are exposed to healthy, good food as children grow up to be adults with a good approach to food who make good choices.

OP,

Under no circumstance allow your sporty, active, healthy DS a weekly McDonald's.

It is the gateway drug to Spam.

What I've seen is that the kids who are exposed to healthy, good food as children grow up to be adults with a good approach to food who make good choices

Absolutely. And having McDonalds now and then makes absolutely no difference to that.

Absolutely fine!!!!!

Sorry, but McDonald's is filth. I wouldn't feed it to anyone.

Sorry, but its not. It's just food.

In what way do you imagine it to be "filth"?

And having McDonalds now and then makes absolutely no difference to that.

Exactly right.

The OP is about once a week. That's not now and then, that's regularly.