With childhood obesity now a major public health problem in the United States, many sit-down restaurants have decided to offer alternatives to burgers and fries on their children's menus. Miriam Arond, editor-in-chief of Child magazine, talks to “Today” about a survey her magazine did to discover which restaurants had the healthiest menus for kids. Here’s an excerpt of the article, written by Child magazine’s Karen Cicero.

Dining out is an excellent way to teach children about manners, expose them to new foods, and spend time together without interruptions. But as families fill restaurants in record numbers -- nearly half of parents with 6- to 11-year-olds dine out at least weekly and about one in five do it more often -- several recent studies have found that children and adults consume far more calories, but get fewer nutrients, when they eat at restaurants rather than at home.

To determine which restaurants have the healthiest choices, we embarked on a five-month project, examining the children's menus from more than 125 of the largest full-service, sit-down chains. Each menu was initially evaluated on these basic criteria: whether it contained at least two to four nutritious entrees, depending on the overall number of options; included a vegetable besides french fries; and offered milk among its beverage choices. What we found was horrifying: Most menus are filled with fried main courses and french fries, and when beverages are noted, all offer soda while only two-thirds mention milk. In fact, just 20 menus -- one out of six restaurants -- met our minimum requirements.

Each of these menus was sent to five nutrition experts for evaluation. Their scores were averaged and counted as 75% of a restaurant's grade. The remaining 25% came from the chain's child-friendly activities -- from balloons to birthday clubs -- in addition to its smoking policy, contribution to children's charities and schools, and access to high chairs, booster seats, and diaper-changing tables in both the men's and women's restrooms.

After crunching the numbers, we uncovered restaurants that combine healthy food, great fun, and family-friendly conveniences. Many of them have revamped their children's menu within the last year, so there's hope that their competitors will follow suit.

Check, Please!
Wherever you dine, use this checklist to make your experience as healthy as possible.

Get off to the right start. To keep your child quiet and in his seat, it's tempting to allow him to eat high-fat, low-fiber breadsticks or biscuits while he's waiting for his meal. To prevent that, ask your waiter to bring a side dish like fruit first or request that your child's food be served as soon as it's ready -- even if yours isn't done.

Slim down the choices. Nearly all kids' menus in our survey offered at least one unhealthy food. Select the two or three best options from the menu, and have your child pick from those. If the children's menu has nothing healthy, ask whether the chef can make a half-portion of an adult entree, or else dine family-style, having everyone share the food selected from the adult menu.

Think about drinks. Most kids' cups in restaurants hold at least eight ounces, so select a healthy beverage like milk or water. If milk isn't listed on the menu, it may be available upon request. If your child wants juice, ask your waiter to water it down.

Pare 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. "Studies show the more food that's on the plate, the more your child will be likely to overeat," says Kelly Brownell, Ph.D., director of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders in New Haven, CT, and author of Food Fight. Some options: Split a kids' meal between two children 6 and under and order an extra beverage, or immediately ask for a doggy-bag for half.

End on a light note. A few kids' menus offer fruit for dessert, but many more give away ice cream. While this is fine if your family doesn't dine out often, it's not nutritionally sound twice a week. Inform the waiter on the sly not to mention it. What if your child asks about dessert? Tell him your family has to go home but he can have dessert (albeit a much healthier one) there.

TOP RESTAURANT

1. Legal Sea Foods
U.S. locations: 28 in DC, FL, MA, MD, NJ, NY, RI, VA
Boasts the most extensive children's menu of our survey, with 12 entrees, nearly all of which are free of artery-clogging trans fats

Tests the mercury content of its tuna and swordfish as part of a project with Harvard School of Public Health; fish with high levels are discarded

Has donated a portion of its holiday gift-certificate sales to children's hospitals for the last decade; in 2003, it raised more than $70,000

Four years ago, Legal Sea Foods CEO Roger Berkowitz took part in a roundtable discussion at Harvard University and wound up changing the ingredients used at the restaurant. "Walter Willett, chair of the nutrition department, turned to me and asked if we used trans fats in our cooking," Berkowitz recalls. "I didn't know what trans fats were, but they didn't sound good. I told him I didn't think we used trans fats but asked how I could tell for certain."

After Dr. Willett explained that these fats were present in foods that contained partially hydrogenated oil and that they're the type of fat most unhealthy for the heart, Berkowitz returned to his restaurants and, much to his dismay, found them everywhere -- in the deep-frying oils, the frozen fries, the oyster crackers, the cheddar crackers kids received upon seating, and more. Since that time, he and his staff have been on a crusade to find alternatives; three years ago, after much urging, they persuaded their supplier to offer a trans-fat-free oil that can withstand high heat. "We were delighted that our blind taste tests showed that patrons preferred this oil. The preservatives in the oil with the trans fats were masking the flavor of our food," he says.

Shortly thereafter, Legal Sea Foods coaxed its fry vendor to remove the trans fats, but when the cracker suppliers refused to budge, they got the boot. Westminster currently makes the restaurant's yummy oyster crackers, and Our Family Farm, a company that donates all net earnings from its entire business to children's charities, packages individual bags of cheddar crackers shaped like sea animals for the chain. "Our children's and adults' menus are free of trans fats, except for macaroni and cheese, and we're working on that," boasts Berkowitz.
Legal Sea Foods also promotes healthy eating for kids by serving a fruit and vegetable with every entree and by offering several tempting kid-friendly seafood choices such as crunchy baked cod and a half lobster (with the meat scooped out and put back to make it easier to eat). The pickiest eaters and kids who are allergic to seafood can dive into fish-shaped ravioli with tomato sauce. "Every quarter, I meet with two employees from each location about what we're doing right and how we can improve not only for the adults, but for the children as well," Berkowitz says. "They're the future of our business."

This article appears courtesy of Child Magazine. Copyright © 2004 Gruner + Jahr USA Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt can be used without permission of the publisher.

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