Healthy snacks
You may have recently noticed several seemingly healthy options on many children’s menus while dining out with your family. In the past few years, several restaurants have made changes to their food choices in hopes of reducing the negative connotations of restaurant kids’ food, a category most often associated with chicken nuggets, hot dogs, French fries and pizza. However, according to a recent article by Consumer Reports, there has been little to no improvement in the overall nutritional content of children’s restaurant meal options.
A new study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine examined the kids’ menu choices of 45 chain restaurants between 2012 and 2015, looking at the nutritional numbers of 4,000 beverages, entrées, and side dishes. They found that even amongst restaurants involved in healthy-option initiatives, overall the menus showed little to no reductions in the amounts of calories, saturated fat, and sodium in their offerings over the course of the study.
The researchers also determined that on average, a kid’s meal, including a beverage, entrée, side dish, and dessert, has about 1,000 calories. This number is quite high, considering that the Department of Agriculture recommends children ages 4 through 8 should only consume between 1,400 and 1,600 calories in an entire day.
One finding to note comes in the way of beverages. Although many restaurants have recently dropped soda from their children’s menus, sugary, high-calorie drinks still make up 80% of kids’ beverage options. Restaurants are simply switching out soda drinks for other sugary drinks, such as juices and flavored milks.
Consumer Reports suggests several ways in which parents can improve the nutritional values of the foods their children eat at restaurants. One option is to split an adult entrée that you both like with your child, as portions are usually large and sharing helps to control the calorie count for both of you. Another tip is to allow your child to choose their children’s menu entrée, but have a parent choose the healthier sides and drinks to go along with it. Alternately, get in the habit of allowing your child to choose one treat per meal, whether it is the chocolate milk, the French fries, or the dessert. Then limit the other options to healthier choices such water to drink, apple slices or vegetables for sides, or even sharing one dessert with the rest of the family around the table.
For more information on the study and its findings, please visit Consumer Reports.
