Calories in a mcdonalds cheeseburger happy meal

For generations, the Happy Meal has been a beloved option at McDonald's for children and adults alike. It is a manageable choice for those who don't want to attack a mountain of fries or a super-sized sandwich.

But now, McDonald's is slimming down the Happy Meal, and two longtime choices will go away. McDonald's said Thursday that its Happy Meal options will no longer include a cheeseburger or chocolate milk.

For some diners who like to eat less fast food, that's taking the "Happy" out of a Happy Meal. But the move is part of a global effort to cut down on calories, sodium, saturated fat and sugar, and offer healthier food to children.

By 2022, McDonald's is striving to keep the calorie count of a Happy Meal under 600 calories worldwide. It also wants just 10% of Happy Meal calories to come from saturated fat, and 10% of calories from added sugar.

Right now, about 28% of Happy Meals on menu boards in 20 major McDonald's markets meet those criteria. McDonald's forecasts that its U.S. stores will be there by June.

On its own, the cheeseburger has 300 calories, which pales in comparison to the 560 in a Big Mac.

Diners can still request a cheeseburger or chocolate milk in a Happy Meal, but they will no longer be marketed as part of the Happy Meal package.

The Happy Meal has been around at McDonald's since 1979. Its original elements included a small hamburger or cheeseburger, fries, a drink and a toy.

Since then, McDonald's has made a number of modifications in Happy Meal offerings. In 2011, it began offering apple slices as an alternative to fries. In 2013, it offered Fish McBites, made from the same fish as its Filet O'Fish, as a limited-time option during Lent.

This go-around, there will be other modifications, too, including the Happy Meal's trademark toy. By the end of next year, books will be an option in 100 markets, up from 20 now.

McDonald's does not break out Happy Meal sales, according to Reuters, but the company says that trips by families make up about 30% of visits to McDonald's each year.

Some analysts say Happy Meals account for as much as 15% of McDonald's annual U.S. revenue. And while Happy Meals are primarily aimed at kids, many adults choose them as the least-caloric, smallest servings on the McDonald's menu.

They're especially popular with seniors, to whom McDonald's offers a discount on coffee. And they're much easier to eat in a car than some of McDonald's bigger offerings.

The Happy Meal move is the latest in efforts to promote McDonald's as offering healthier foods, even though it has also been pushing cheap choices to consumers.

In an effort to promote its mobile order and pay system, McDonald's is offering a buy-one-get-one-free deal on the Mac Jr., a single-patty version of the Big Mac, as well as free medium fries with any mobile purchase and free hash browns with breakfast sandwiches.

And with a little over a month to St. Patrick's Day, the perennially popular Shamrock Shake is back. The calories in a small size? 430. Or a little more than two-thirds of a Happy Meal.

If your child wants a Happy Meal with a cheeseburger, soon they'll have to make it a special order. McDonald’s says it’s ditching the cheeseburger from all Happy Meals in the U.S. starting in June in an effort to reduce calories in each meal to under 600.

That leaves just the hamburger and four- and six-count Chicken McNuggets on the official kids' menu.

Folks on Twitter aren’t taking too kindly to the change:

In addition to reducing calories, McDonald’s is working to improve nutritional guidelines for the Happy Meals that it promotes on menus in 20 major markets, including the U.S., by 2022. These guidelines include offering foods with no more than 10 percent of calories from saturated fat, 650 milligrams of sodium and 10 percent of calories from added sugar.

As a result, the soon-to-be-gone cheeseburger isn’t the only change coming to the Happy Meal. McDonald’s will switch the small size french fries that come with the six-count Chicken McNuggets Happy Meal to kid-size fries.

The fast food chain says it's also focusing heavily on drinks and will temporarily remove chocolate milk from the menu while they reformulate it to reduce the amount of added sugar. In December, McDonald's began serving Honest Kids Appley Ever After organic juice that has half the sugar and 45 fewer calories than the previously offered 100 percent, pure apple juice selection. You’ll also start to see bottled water as a drink option on Happy Meal menu boards later this year.

In 2013, McDonald’s USA began the transition to a healthier menu, removing soda from Happy Meal menu boards. Now, McDonald’s says that more than half of the Happy Meals ordered in the U.S. now have water, milk or juice as the drink choice.

"Today's announcement represents meaningful progress to impact kids' calories, saturated fat, sodium and added sugar in Happy Meal bundles as offered on menu boards—and to promote more water. This sets a high bar, and we hope other industry leaders will follow suit,” Dr. Howell Wechsler, chief executive officer of Alliance for a Healthier Generation, which is partnering with McDonald’s, said in a press release.

McDonald’s is also testing a fresh (never frozen) beef burger at several Oklahoma locations and recently tried a vegan burger in Finland, both targeting more health-conscious consumers.

Of course, the cheeseburger isn't disappearing altogether. It will remain a staple at McDonald’s and is available for just a buck as part of the chain's revamped Dollar Menu. It totals 300 calories and 12 grams of fat versus the hamburger, which has 250 calories and 8 grams of fat. Perhaps adults looking to cut back on calories can skip the cheese on their next McDonald’s run, too.

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