Healthy and Happy Meals from McDonalds

Is a Happy Meal still happy when it's healthy? 

Starting in September, children will get apples with their McDonald's Happy Meals -- and fewer fries at a McDonald's in Oak Brook, Illinois.

McDonald's first experimented with eliminating French fries completely from the menu, but the company says children and parents rebelled. So they brought them back, only in a smaller portion. By the beginning of next year, McDonald's will include a half-order of apples and a half-order of fries in the Happy Meal. But, customers can request a full order of one or the other.

McDonald's says the apples are currently available in Happy Meals instead of fries, but only 11 percent of people ordered them.

Under the new progam:

• McDonald's pledged to reduce sugars, saturated fats and calories through "varied portion sizes, reformulations and innovations" by 2020. By 2015, it will reduce sodium by 15 percent.
• McDonald's will introduce a new mobile app focused just on nutrition information.
• McDonald's USA president Jan Fields and other executives will go on a "listening tour" in August to hear suggestions from parents and nutrition experts. The chain will also launch a new online forum for parents.

The changes are what customers are asking for, according to Cindy Goody, McDonald's senior director of nutrition. 
"We've been in the nutrition game for over 30 years in providing nutrition information to our customers," Goody said. "Now what we're doing is we're adding more food groups and ... creating nutritional awareness."

Do you think your kids will still want Happy Meals???