High-Calorie Family Vacation: 5 Worst Kids' Meals

For plenty of parents, one definition of “family vacation” means relaxing the rules of mealtime: no cooking for mom and dad, and a few more treats, chicken nuggets, and child’s-meal toys for the kids.

If you feel guilty indulging your kids’ culinary druthers while on a family road trip, you have some reason to feel better. In the past few years, plenty of chain restaurants have made efforts to make kids' meals leaner and fresher, adding more fruit, veggies and non-fried options.

A recent study, however, indicates that those kids’ meals still have a long way to go. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, with help from the University of North Carolina at Asheville, analyzed kids’ meals from 41 top chains, and found that the typical combo packs too much heft in terms of calories, salt and fat—sometimes even by adult standards. According to federal guidelines, the typical child between the ages of 4 and 13 needs 1,200 to 1,800 calories for the entire day. (Grown-ups need 1,600 to 2,400.)

(MORE: Tame the long and whining road with these tried-and-tested tips from real parents)

Here are the five worst offenders we found at popular chains—s ome of which max out your child’s caloric quota for the entire day. The bright side: there are easy alternatives to make meals leaner, more nutritious, and even keep your child feeling full longer—so you can log in more miles before your next vacation stop.

Denny’s Inside Out Grilled Cheese with french fries: 970 calories

The classic cheese sandwich ranks as one of the fattiest choices we found on most kids’ menus: this version, with fries, total 59 grams of fat. A better choice: Spaghetti with marinara and bread offers just 270 calories and 6 grams of fat, and you can add a side of fresh grapes for just 55 calories.

Chili's pepperoni pizza with cinnamon apples: 1,020 calories

The pizza on its own has 750 calories and 38 grams of fat, while the innocent-looking cinnamon apples has 270 calories and 11 grams of fat. A better choice: The kid-pleasing corn dog has just 230 calories, and more nutritious sides (under 100 calories) include steamed broccoli, pineapple, and celery with low-fat ranch.