The National Restaurant Association’s (NRA) annual “What’s
Hot” survey of 1,800 professional chefs from the American Culinary Federation
determined that healthful meals for young people would be the No. 3 trend for
the industry this year.
Not surprisingly, an increasing number of quick-service and
fast-casual restaurants are coming up with various kids’ meals that are lower
in calories, salt, and fat and higher in important nutrition density (think
more fiber, vitamins and minerals).
The quick serve industry believes that making fruits,
vegetables, low-fat milk, and fruit juice part of a kids’ meal helps parents,
not just by having the items available, but also by offering them as the
default option, meaning healthy food is built into the meal. It’s sort of a
stealth-health approach.
“For years, you had to ask to get a salad or fruit instead
of French fries, and that puts the onus on me to choose them,” says Pamela
Smith, an Orlando, Florida, nutritionist, author, consultant, and energy coach.
“But if I can bundle the healthier choices, that’s best.”
It also prevents food fights between parents who want a
healthier option and kids who want fun foods that may be high in sodium and
sugar.
Anita Shaffer, director of menu management for Chartwells
School Dining Services in Rye Brook, New York, confirms that healthy choices as
the default is best.
“Why not make healthy options the default, and the less
nutritious items the ones that have to be chosen?” she says. “You may be
surprised that kids love the healthy ones.”
The NPD Group, a consulting and market research firm,
projected that fruit, mini burgers; grilled and baked chicken, and non-carbonated
drinks would grow in popularity this year and beyond.
The number of visits at quick serves by families with kids
was flat in 2011 for the second consecutive year after several years of
declines, but only 8 percent of quick-service restaurant visits of groups with
children include a kids’ meal or order from a kids’ menu.
“The price for the kids’ meals have been going up, and that
is part of it,” says Bonnie Riggs, NPD’s restaurant industry analyst. “There’s
been a lot of switching from the kids’ meals to the value menu, and splitting
some of those items among the kids.”
While the kids’ meals with toys appeal to children aged 4
and younger, kids older than that “want choices,” Riggs notes.
“The real challenge is to develop dishes that aren’t labeled
healthy, but are nutritious and delicious,” she says. “We want to give kids the
nutrients they need to grow and play and think and have fun, but with an eye on
controlling calories.”
Changes in children’s tastes, especially to more healthful
options, are showing up in school menus, which often reflect the popular
quick-serve options, Shaffer says.
“We get inspiration from quick-service restaurants because
children are exposed to them and those preferences,” she says. “We take popular
foods and enhance the nutritional value.”
The idea is to give kids what they know and like, but making
a few tweaks here and there to make it healthier.
For instance, Chartwells has a proprietary pizza crust made
with whole-wheat flour, flax, and olive oil. “We top it with low-fat cheese,
and then there are plenty of toppings, including all kinds of vegetables, the
kinds of foods kids should eat more of,” Shaffer says.
Shaffer has also seen students gravitate toward other
healthier items, including baked (not fried) chicken, flavorful and spicy
sauces, and sub sandwiches made with lower-fat meats and cheeses, numerous
vegetables, and whole-grain breads.
Chartwells is a food service management company and after
looking into their organization it appears their intentions are noble given the
constraints placed upon them by state and federal school lunch regulations. [2]
Updated nutritional standards are being phased in over the
next three years, starting with the 2012-13 school year. The new requirements
raise standards for the first time in 16 years, to improve the health and
nutrition of the nearly 32 million students that participate in school meal
programs.
The new meal standards will:
Ensure students are offered both fruits and vegetables
daily.
Substantially increase offerings of whole grain-rich foods
and low-fat white milk or fat-free flavored milk.
Limit calories based on the age of children being served to
ensure proper portion size.
Focus on reducing the amounts of saturated fat, trans fats
and sodium.
The federal school lunch guidelines are far from perfect but
at least they have taken steps in the right direction. But just because the meals are better
than they were doesn’t mean they are always the best option for our children. That said, considering the
nutritional intake of many children in our current culture that school lunch
potentially could be their most balanced and nutritious meal of the day. And for students and families receiving
free or reduced lunch it can be a real blessing.
I still believe snacks and lunches prepared at home are the
best option to ensure adequate nutrition while also promoting optimal
performance in the classroom and on the field of play. Free will is a beautiful thing and we
will never be able to regulate people into “preferred” behaviors. Setting an example for children with
our own actions is the best tool of influence that we have. Informed demand from consumers is also
a powerful tool to bring about change as well and the “scrambling” of the quick
service food industry to make up for lagging market share (i.e. provide
healthier options for children) is proof of this.
Krista Gable, whose two children attend the Plymouth-Canton
Community Schools, favors improving school lunch standards. But she also thinks
her children fare better because she packs their lunches four out of five days.
"I know exactly what my kids are eating," she
said, "and comparing what I'm giving them to what they may get in school,
I know mine is better." [3]
I always find it interesting what popular media and the
“food industry” refer to as healthy food options. Low-fat milk, fat-free flavored milk, and fruit juice are
better options than soda but I wouldn’t exactly call them healthy options. This is why a mindset like that of Mrs.
Gable is so important for optimizing the nutrition of our children. Inherently the food industry has an
agenda driven first and foremost by profit and loss statements and while I
sincerely believe that guidelines to improve school lunches have the best
interest of students in mind the system is scaled for mass and as a result
change for the better can be slow, remember it took 16 years for the most recent
guidelines to be updated! The only
agenda you have is raising your kids to be the best they can be and I believe
we all inherently understand that the food we give them has a profound impact
on their health as well as their physical and mental development.
Everyday we vote through our actions. We either vote in favor of the quick
serve and processed food industry or we empower ourselves to take control of
the health of our families by opting for fresh farm to table nutrition as often
as possible. Again I want to
emphasize that the school lunch program while far from perfect can be a
blessing for children and families that are struggling to put food on their
table. For many other families
school lunch is an option; it’s better than fast food but not as good as nutritious
lunches prepared and packed at home.
Phil Loomis
Youth Fitness/Nutrition Specialist
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