Kids' Menus Are Friendly, But Fatty

As a parent, you may appreciate the kid-friendly atmosphere and free crayons at table-service chain restaurants, but if you're health-conscious, you will cringe at this news about kids' menus - they have enough calories, fat, and salt to make the Big Mac® look like health food.

The French fries, chicken fingers, burgers, and pizza that make up most kids' menus are guaranteed not to offend little people's palates. They let the grownups eat in peace, and they're relatively cheap. But they also serve up far more calories, with fewer nutrients, than kids get at home, according to nutritionists from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).

Worse than fast food?

So much heat has been heaped on fast-food chains that many people are turning to table-service chains instead. However, CSPI surveyed 20 of America's chain restaurants that offer kids' menus. What they found was artery-clogging. For instance, a cheeseburger with fries at one chain had 840 calories and 31 grams of saturated-plus-trans fat - the fats that promote heart disease. To get that many calories, an adult would have to order a sirloin steak, a filet mignon, and three pats of butter, according to CSPI.

Chicken fingers weighed in with 360 calories and 8 grams of bad fat at another chain. With fries, this kids' meal came to a grand total of 710 calories and 15 grams of saturated-plus-trans fat - the equivalent of two McDonald's Quarter Pounders®.

"Many parents appreciate the kid-friendly atmosphere and free crayons at places like Applebee's, but not many would expect adult-sized calorie counts in a children's meal," says CSPI senior nutritionist Jayne Hurley. "These chains should be encouraging kids to eat some of the healthy dishes they offer adults."

American children, like their elders, are dining out more often than ever, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report. The USDA found that food consumed away from home has a higher ratio of fat to calories (fat density) and lower fiber and calcium densities than foods prepared at home.

Healthier choices now served

Some restaurants are reworking their children's menus and adding broccoli, grapes, carrots and grilled chicken in response to reports that obesity rates in children have doubled since 1980.

Macaroni Grill and Cracker Barrel were the only chains CSPI surveyed that offer kids a choice of grilled chicken, and Olive Garden offers a healthier spaghetti and tomato sauce kids' entrée. Red Lobster has revamped its kids' menu and young restaurant patrons now get a free appetizer of applesauce or fresh carrot sticks and cucumbers with a ranch dipping sauce.

Tips for dining out with kids

Looking for other ways to enjoy a healthy meal out with the kids? Here are some suggestions:

1. Pare down portions. Restaurants provide enough food in their kids' meals for children with the biggest appetites -- 12-year-old boys. Unless you're dining with one, there's probably too much food. Split a kids' meal between two children 6 and under and order an extra beverage.

2. Substitute. Inquire if the restaurant would grill those chicken fingers - instead of frying them. Ask if you can substitute a vegetable or applesauce for the fries, or a glass of milk instead of the soda.

3. Check out the buffet. Children often do well at a buffet. They see the actual food, serve themselves quickly and make choices. Buffet food also tends to be less exotic - good news for most children.

4. If you don't see that many healthy choices on a kids' menu, consider ordering an appetizer for children, or order an entrée and share it. Adult portions are usually more than generous anyway. Splitting the entré e between two kids also works well.

5. Try an ethnic restaurant. Consider ordering a few dishes family style and share. Try less spicy ones for starters. This is a good way to introduce your child to new foods!

CSPI - and some legislators - would actually like to see basic nutrition information on kids' menus.

"If kids' menus have room for puzzles, mazes, word games and advertising, surely they have enough room for some basic nutrition information," says CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. If chains can put carbs on menus for Atkins dieters, he adds, they can find a way to put key nutrition information on kids' menus.

Sources:

Hurley J., Liebman B. Kids' Cuisine: What would you like with your fries?

Diets of America's Children. Influence of Dining Out, Household Characteristics, and Nutrition Knowledge. Economic Research Service. The U.S. Department of Agriculture.

This article was reviewed and updated June 2007.