Tips for Healthy Children Menus

Eating out with children can be a frustrating experience for any parent. Most will take the easy way out and choose the kid friendly fast food places that offer the processed foods kids like.

Unfortunately, most of those foods are fattening choices that hold little nutritional value for their growing bodies. Children can be a handful at restaurants and they can be finicky eaters as well, but you can make their meals healthier and more nutritious. Here are some tips for healthy children menus.

If you must go to a fast food restaurant, try to avoid the kid’s meals unless they offer healthy substitutes like fruit instead of fries. They usually contain fattening foods like chicken nuggets and fries.

If they want the double cheeseburger, downsize it to a junior burger and don’t let them add all of the mayonnaise and fried bacon so that you can eliminate some unnecessary fat while keeping their diet more in the nutritious range.

Take the meal to a park (or to your home) to avoid having them be tempted by seeing what other kids are eating. Sometimes parents give in to their children’s demands and buy fattening fries just to avoid the embarrassing tantrums they can throw in the restaurant.

Many restaurants where you sit down to eat have healthier menu options.  If your child is rambunctious, go to one where the kids can color on their menu.  Or play games with them until the food comes, like, “ I see something that starts with the letter A” - and let them have fun trying to guess what it is.

This helps encourage them to eat healthier choices for their meals because they don’t develop a reliance on drive-through fare.  Try to make compromises on their food choices.

See if they’ll go for toast with jam instead of the fattening pastry treats they usually like to have. A little extra sugar-free jam on whole grain toast is still better than a sugar-laden donut.

Children can eat healthy if you try some unique ways to sway their choices from the non-nutritional items they’ve grown accustomed to ordering.  Be persistent but flexible as your child navigates a new way of eating healthy. 

Tips For Healthy Children Menus