Article

Restaurants striving to offer healthy options to kids

About 150 restaurant brands ranging from Noodles & Company to Outback Steakhouse to Sonic, use the Kids LiveWell guidelines across 42,000 locations nationwide.

January 1, 2016

By Rachel Salabes, manager of media relations and Kids LiveWell, National Restaurant Association

With child obesity a concern in this country, restaurant operators are continuing to look for ways to make sure there are healthful and nutritious items on the menu when families dine out.

Since 2011, restaurateurs have sought out the National Restaurant Association's Kids LiveWell program for direction on creating and promoting more nutritious choices at their establishments. The program, created in collaboration with nutrition consultant Healthy Dining, has made it easier for restaurants to give children and their parents the information needed to help them make healthful choices. In fact, the number of industry participants has increased sevenfold since the program launched four years ago.

The goal: to get more restaurants to offer fresh fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains and low-fat dairy options, while limiting total calories, unhealthy fats, sugar and sodium in the items they offer for kids.

Today, about 150 restaurant brands ranging from Noodles & Company to Outback Steakhouse to Sonic, use the Kids LiveWell guidelines across 42,000 locations nationwide. Participants represent a variety of segments, including quick service, fast casual, casual-dining and even museums, theme parks and resorts.

In addition to its restaurant participants, Kids LiveWell has also partnered with foodservice companies including Kellogg Company and Sysco to expand the reach of the program. The initiative has also joined forces with commodity boards, such as the California Milk Advisory Board and the Beef Checkoff Program, which has developed a database of recipes that meet program criteria operators can use on their children's menus.

"Through Kids LiveWell, we have aimed to empower parents and caregivers with accurate nutritional information so that they can confidently make informed decisions about their children's meals," said Dawn Sweeney, president and CEO of the National Restaurant Association. "Offering healthful kids' meals is a trend we can all get behind."

At Silver Diner, a family-dining chain based in Rockville, Maryland, sales of nutritious items and particularly its kids' meal options, have increased, said Co-founder and Corporate Executive Chef Ype Von Hengst.

"When you think of diners, you don't immediately think of healthy food, right? But we believe we have a personal commitment to give families and kids better food," he said. "We joined the NRA's Kids LiveWell program in 2011 with five certified menu items. Today we've got more than 20, and some of the changes we've made have given us a 25-percent increase in sales."

The National Restaurant Association's annual "What's Hot" survey of professional chefs shows that healthful kids' meals are a top restaurant menu trend. In fact, healthful kids' meals have held steady in the top 20 trends since 2009, showing that the focus on healthful kids' meals is a priority for the industry.

As Kids LiveWell's fourth year comes to a close, the NRA looked back on several milestones that occurred in 2015.

"The program's fourth birthday was especially significant," said Sue Hensley, senior vice president of public affairs and communications for the National Restaurant Association. "A number of our restaurant partners helped get the word out to more customers by offering special deals on their Kids LiveWell meals. Also, several high-profile industry chefs and companies, like Chef Robert Irvine, Applebee's and Corner Bakery, lent their support to the program through social media, including our virtual birthday party. It promoted awareness about the program with parents in a fun, interactive way."

Hensley added that as the program gears up for its fifth birthday in 2016, there are a number of projects in the works, including the launch of Food Leap, a new gaming app created in partnership with SuperKids Nutrition to increase awareness about Kids LiveWell and encourage families to make healthful choices at restaurants.

"Through this game, children will learn about making healthful choices in an engaging way. They'll get exposure to nutritious foods and their benefits, and parents will be able to encourage kids to try these foods when dining out. We're very excited about it and the year to come as the Kids LiveWell program continues to grow," Hensley said.