When it comes to dining out, food for the younger set is often not very child friendly. At least not where nutrition is concerned.
Whether at a drive-thru window or a white-tablecloth spot, kids menu choices are often limited to burgers, fried chicken nuggets or strips, corn dogs, hot dogs, mini-pizzas or pasta. Sides? Fries or a bag of chips are popular.
A 2013 study by the Center for Science in the Public Interest -- a Washington-based nonprofit watchdog and consumer advocacy group founded in 1971 which promotes safer and more nutritious foods -- looked at the top 50 restaurant chains in the nation. Of those chains, 83 percent offered chicken fingers, 65 percent offered burgers and 45 percent offered grilled cheese on their children's menus. When it came to sides, 73 percent offered fries while 68 percent offered fruit as an option.
"Eating out is a much bigger part of our diet than it was in the past," says Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy for the organization. "Today's kids are getting about a quarter of their daily calories from fast-food or other restaurants."
While there is often a financial incentive for parents to choose kids meals for their children, Wootan says that many of those same parents want healthier options.
"It's very telling that kids food has become synonymous with junk food," Wootan says. "Kids food should be the best food. There's the illusion of choices, but if you're looking for a healthy choice on a kids menu, it's truly challenging. There's been a little improvement, but not much."
In addition to what children are eating, there are also concerns about what they're drinking. But progress is being made there, Wootan says.
"Just in the last year, McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's have dropped sodas and other sugary drinks as the default drink on their kids menus, offering low-fat milk and juice instead," she says.
Four years ago, the National Restaurant Association launched its Kids LiveWell program, with more than 42,000 restaurant locations nationwide committed to adding more healthful children's choices to their menus.
Wootan says Kids LiveWell is a step in the right direction, but with restaurants only being required to offer one healthy entree and one healthy side to be included in the program, it's limited.
"If your child doesn't like chicken and apples then they're out of luck," she says.
When it comes to finding healthful and inexpensive food choices for children, parents often have to think outside the burger box.
"We don't eat out much and I'm not real big on chain or fast-food restaurants," says Erica Harrod of Ward, whose family includes son Max, 13, and daughters Taylor, 12, and Ava, 6. "But when we do, we typically let two of our kids share an adult meal instead of getting two kids meals," she says. "We also save money by everyone
ordering water instead of a tea or soft drink -- at $3 a piece for a family of five that saves us $15 on the bill."
Shannon Hendrix, director of clinical nutrition at Arkansas Children's Hospital, notes that some local restaurants don't mind preparing something especially for children, recalling a recent visit to Samantha's Tap Room in downtown Little Rock with her child.
"They asked us what we would like them to prepare for my son, who's 3," Hendrix says. "A lot of times when we eat out with him, we choose grilled cheese or baked chicken. At Las Palmas Mexican restaurant, we often order grilled chicken with rice."
During her workday at Children's, she sees some of the patients' parents choosing convenience above nutrition.
"It's really sad," she says. "Just yesterday we saw a patient who has problems with allergies and the mom thought the easiest thing to do was just to go through the drive-thru at McDonald's for the child's meals because she knew for certain that what she orders there doesn't have any cross-contaminants.
"We try to teach them to choose fruit or vegetables instead of fries," Hendrix says. And the hospital teaches by example -- fries are offered there, but only the baked variety, as all items served to patients are baked.
"Parents are setting examples for their children," Hendrix says. "The habits they learn now will be carried over to their adulthood and we see the impact unhealthy eating has had on society -- from the increase in diabetes and heart disease to other diet-related health problems."
As demand for healthier food grows, some fast food chains are adding options to draw parents back to their drive-thru windows.
"I know you're going to think I'm crazy when I say this, but we travel a lot and I've found McDonald's has been awesome on three long road trips this year," says Hilary DeMillo, who works in marketing and communications at Children's and whose son, Simon, will soon turn 2.
"We can get apples or Cutie oranges, yogurt and milk -- all of which he'll eat," she said. "I was surprised the first time we made a pit stop at one."
National chain Chili's has incorporated the Kids LiveWell program into its kids menu. In addition to the usual choices of chicken nuggets, burgers, pizza and corn dogs, Chili's offers grilled chicken platters or sandwiches, cheese quesadillas, macaroni and cheese, and grilled cheese sandwiches. Besides fries, side item choices are celery sticks, salad, corn, steamed broccoli, mashed potatoes, mandarin oranges and fresh pineapple.
Dixie Cafe, a Little Rock-based chain of home-style fare with 14 locations in Arkansas and two in and near Memphis, features a kids menu that includes the standards (burgers, grilled cheese, corn dog bites and pizza rolls all served with fries) but also 11 plate lunches (served with a choice of two side items) ranging from fried and grilled chicken tenders to meatloaf and a three-vegetable plate.
"We're very proud of our kids menu and the extensiveness of it," says Danny Troillett, the restaurant's director of marketing and guest relations. "We take a lot of pride in being family-oriented. That's one of the reasons we try to keep kids meals so cost- efficient and still offer decent options."
In Little Rock, DeMillo often chooses All Aboard, where the menu offers a mix of the traditional burgers and fries alongside healthier options such as veggie burgers, fruit plates, hummus, vegetarian wraps and carrot sticks. Another Little Rock restaurant offering such alternatives is The Root Cafe, which also has vegetarian selections.
"The Root is awesome for families, both from the menu and the fact that they offer a little playset for kids to burn off energy," she says.
DeMillo adds that her son likes dipping one food into another, so when dining out, the family looks for restaurants offering salsa, guacamole or hummus.
"The vehicle doesn't faze him much, so if we can get it on a raw veggie or request something other than chips, that always helps on the nutrition side," she says.
Shelly Lensing of Roland often solves the problem of limited kids menu options for her 5-year-old daughter Ava by teaching her the advantages of sharing.
"Portions are so huge nowadays and bigger is not always better, so I'll order something off the regular menu that we both like and we'll share," Lensing says.
If her daughter really wants something off the kimenu, she has a backup plan.
"I'll make sure it's something I like and order a salad, so she'll eat a little of my salad and I'll eat some of her fries, nuggets, or macaroni and cheese."
Paula Volpe of Little Rock, mother of three sons, says her youngest, John, 12, stopped ordering from kids menus when he was 6 or 7 because the adult selections were better and larger.
"I'm a terrible mom because I did not force them to eat nutritious meals when they were little," she says. "But I saw moms who did and the result was many of those children rebelled by either sneaking banned food or obsessing on it.
"I like when healthier options are available, but I've seen too many 'healthy' lunches go into the trash at schools. Wasting good and nutritious food is more disturbing to me."
Renee Clay-Circle of Hardy has a daughter, Miley, 6, who's still young enough to order from the kids menus. She says she usually opts to share an adult meal with her daughter instead.
"Do restaurants have an obligation for a better children's menu? No, they don't even have to offer one," Clay-Circle says. "But they do it because they try to help families out with a smaller-portion meal at a discount for the smaller child. It's not the restaurant's fault if you can't afford to order a 6-year-old crab legs but, in my opinion, there is nothing wrong with sharing your crab legs with your child."
Family on 10/14/2015