Healthier Restaurant Foods for Kids? I'll Believe It When I See It

One year ago this month the National Restaurant Association had me really looking forward to 2012 with its top 10 list of predictions for culinary trends in the new year:

1. Locally sourced meats and seafood
2. Locally grown produce
3. Healthful kids’ meals
   
4. Hyper-local items
5. Sustainability as a culinary theme
6. Children’s nutrition as a culinary theme
   
7. Gluten-free/food allergy-conscious items
8. Locally produced wine and beer
9. Sustainable seafood
10. Whole grain items in kids’ meals
    

Yes, three of the 10 predictions foretold that my kids would have a good chance of ingesting something other than sugar and fat when we went out to eat. Hallelujah!

Call me naïve, but I expected whole-grain buns for their burgers and a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables at the drive-thru. And so, while I’m perfectly happy that most fast-food chains offer apple slices as a side, that serving sizes of fries have decreased, and that milk and water are overshadowing soda and sugar-sweetened juice, I’m not going into 2013 with the same sense of anticipation.

Maybe it would be different if my kids liked oatmeal – that’s certainly showing up everywhere!

What I learned this year is that I’m going to have to do my part to ensure that healthier and more nutritious items are available – and stay available – going forward. For one thing, I need to order them, even when the kids are asking for that gi-normous 400-calorie muffin at Starbucks and turning up their noses at the fruit-yogurt parfaits.

I also need to stick to the same rules we have at home when it comes to making sure each food group is represented not only on the plate, but in the tummy. No more letting my 9-year-old fill up on French toast while a very high-quality fruit bowl sits forlornly, untouched until I put it out of its misery by eating it all myself.

My final goal is encourage the industry put its money where its mouth is. I’m going to fill out comment cards and use the “contact us” links to remind them that they are the ones voting to put children’s health and nutrition front and center.

In case you're curious, the National Restaurant Association’s 2013 list came out a couple of days ago. You might notice some similarities:

1. Locally sourced meats and seafood
2. Locally grown produce
3. Healthful kids' meals
   
4. Environmental sustainability as a culinary theme
5. Children's nutrition as a culinary theme
   
6. New cuts of meat (e.g. Denver steak, pork flat iron, teres major)
7. Hyper-local sourcing (e.g. restaurant gardens)
8. Gluten-free cuisine
9. Sustainable seafood
10. Whole grain items in kids' meals
    

By Amy De La Hunt, Health blogger for SmartParenting

By day, Amy De La Hunt hears plenty of good information and advice about parenting and child development in her role as curriculum developer for Parents as Teachers, a St. Louis-based nonprofit. And every evening her sons, ages 9 and 6, bring home the reality that there is plenty of parenting wisdom yet to be revealed. Her "a-ha moments" frequently make their way into her health-related posts for St. Louis Kids. She also writes about food, restaurants, nutrition, and other lifestyle topics for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Alive magazine, and Gayot.com. At their home in St. Louis, Amy and her sons dabble in gardening, art, reading, cooking, running and raising chickens in the backyard.