Food Kids Eat

Mothers around the US continuously complain about the difficulties of getting their children to eat fruits and vegetables. Some have to get creative to find food kids eat, since children tend to be extremely picky eaters. And this is before healthy options are taking into account. Even famous chefs struggle to create meals that their children will appreciate. At home, parents find ways to sneak nutrition into dishes, such as adding fruits to dessert, vegetables to omelets and macaroni and cheese, etc. But restaurants face the challenge of incorporating healthy options that will please parents, entice kids, and present well.

The Make-Up of Kids Meals

A kids menu can be tweaked to satisfy parents and children. The safest bet is to offer a few items that are very different from each other, and find ways to incorporate more vegetables into classic favorites, rather than cut down on fat, carbohydrates, and other nutritional factors that are beloved by children. The presentation can appeal to children as well. Having plenty of colors, on the plate, raises the chances of the meal being eaten, by catching the children’s attention. Another classic way to instantly capture children’s hearts in a meal is to present it in a “cute” way. Offering an open-faced burger with a ketchup smiley face on it, or chicken nuggets in animal or geometric shapes, will ensure that the kids are interested in the dish. Many children love to be “hands-on” in all activities. Restaurants can offer dishes such as “build-your-own pizza) that would allow children to add toppings of choice (including vegetables) to their pizza, by bringing the toppings to the table on small dishes with the plain pizza.

Meal Ideas for Kids

A kids menu should always contain classic items that the majority of children tend to gear towards. Pizza, spaghetti, chicken nuggets, and hamburgers are classic options. Ice cream is a standard dessert. Unfortunately these dishes tend to be loaded in carbohydrates and fat, lacking the nutrition that parents want their kids to have. By strategically adding vegetables to dishes, restaurants will make parents happy with the kids menu. Many children can be won over when the dish presentation is made interesting for them by being decorated with squeeze bottles by the chef, or even themselves! Some children like to feel as if they are getting the same options as adults. Putting a kid-friendly spin on some “adult” foods can also convince a child that a restaurant is worthy of their affection. For example, frozen chocolate-covered bananas can be sliced as a dessert and presented as “Chocolate-Banana Sushi.”

By creating unusual options and finding unique ways to slip nutrition into kids’ meals, restaurants can win over kids and their parents. The result can be a very successful business mood for casual restaurants. When pondering where to go for dinner with the family, parents will be extremely likely to listen to the preferences of their kids, bringing kids-friendly restaurants more customers.

Filed under: Recipes • General • Resource Central

Tags: food kids eat, healthy kid's food, kids meals, kids menu, meal ideas for kids