Enlarge Subway A good bet for a kids' meal comes from Subway: a turkey sandwich, apple slices and low-fat milk. BETTER CHOICES BETTER CHOICES Here are some of the healthier kids' meal combinations at fast-food restaurants. The meals have 300 to 500 calories. Subway: Turkey breast, roast beef or Veggie Delight sandwich on wheat bread; apple slices or yogurt; low-fat milk or 100% juice. Burger King: Macaroni and cheese or a hamburger or four chicken tenders, apple fries without caramel sauce, fat-free milk. KFC: Grilled chicken drumstick, corn on the cob or coleslaw, water, string cheese. McDonald's: Hamburger or four chicken nuggets with barbecue sauce, apple dippers without caramel dip, low-fat milk. Source: Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity There are only a dozen or so healthful kids' meals out of thousands of possible combinations at the nation's popular fast-food chains, a comprehensive new analysis shows. Researchers at Yale's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity reviewed the nutritional information on more than 3,000 kids' meal combinations at eight fast-food chains: McDonald's, Burger King, Subway, Wendy's, Sonic, KFC, Taco Bell and Dairy Queen. The assessment evaluated whether the meals had healthful foods and didn't exceed the recommended limits in categories such as calories and sodium. They also hired people to order kids' meals at 250 restaurants nationally from five chains to determine what is being served as the default choice. The findings (fastfoodmarketing.org), released today at the American Public Health Association's annual meeting in Denver, show: •12 meal combos met the nutrition criteria for preschoolers; 15 combos met the criteria for elementary kids. •Another 20 meal combinations met kids' calorie goal but were too high in at least one area, such as sodium. •The calories in kids' meals ranged from about 300 to 1,000. •Teens purchase 800 to 1,100 calories in a fast-food meal, about half a day's worth of calories. •Kids 2 to 12 typically order foods with about half a day's sodium. •Some chains do not offer 100% juice or milk. •Most fast-food chains offer at least one healthful side dish and beverage, but employees usually automatically give customers french fries and soda as the default option. The exception is Subway, which promotes its healthy choices 60% of the time. Making the healthy choices the default option in kids' meals would cut children's intake by billions of calories a year, says Yale's Marlene Schwartz. That's important because about 84% of parents report taking their child to a fast-food restaurant at least once a week, according to a survey of parents. Kids today are bombarded with ads for fast food on TV and the Internet, says Yale's Jennifer Harris. Teens see five fast-food TV ads a day; elementary students see 31/2; and preschoolers see three. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more