Mr. Rosenberger

Family Travel

Healthy Kids Meals - A Primer

By Matthew Rosenberger, Consultant & Publisher, ABC Travel Guides for Kids

It’s a New Year, and like most folks, dear reader, some of your resolutions were once again repeat resolutions: to eat healthy and to exercise more. In fact, these two resolutions are number one and number two respectively on the New Year’s resolution chart since they started keeping track. With this in mind, hotel food and beverage departments must take a good hard look at their menu offerings for kids. No longer is a children’s menu filled with fried foods and buttered noodles acceptable. Packaged and produced foods that are loaded with salt and fat must go. Fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and pastas, and vegetarian dishes are now expected and demanded by not only parents, but their children as well. (The CDC estimates that 1 in every 200 kids is a vegetarian). Frozen yogurts, sorbet and smoothie bars have replaced the ice cream social’s hot fudge sundae and milk shake. So this year start creating healthy kids’ meals for your guests. Keep things simple with the following thought in mind: Healthy adult food can translate to healthy kid food. So what it comes down to is presentation and creativity. This article will present you with all the tools you need to get started.

Start with a Healthy Turndown

Kids have fond memories of little treats and amenities when they visit a hotel. In fact these memories often create an indelible image in their mind that they keep with them forever. This is a great place to start introducing healthy choices to your youngest guests. But rather than leaving traditional chocolates at turndown consider healthy alternatives for them with fun names. A house made trail mix combo, a piece of super power antioxidant rich dark chocolate or an exotic fruit plate, will get the kids excited and provide a healthier alternative at the same time.

A New Menu

The hallmarks of healthy kids’ meals are that the main entrée and side dish offerings are nutritionally balanced with smaller portions presented in creative ways.

A California law that takes effect in 2011 will require restaurants with 20 or more locations to detail calorie counts on their menus. A federal bill similar to the California is under consideration. In anticipation of the changes, Macaroni Grill is grabbing the bull by the horns and taking the initiative with a new menu and a new approach. The challenge is immense, keeping loyal customers happy while taking away their favorite dishes. But MG has a plan-introduce menu changes that will cut the fat with less oil and cheese, and add tasty new low calorie dishes. The restaurant will be replacing the creamy pasta, cheesy pizzas and high caloric deserts with Mediterranean-Italian menu with more grilling, leaner cuts of meat, lighter pastas and fresh herbs and seasonings. (Think olive oil instead of butter and a slice of lemon in your water).

There is precedent for a successful transformation from healthy to unhealthy in the restaurant industry. McDonalds has successfully introduced healthier menu choices and been a trailblazer among fast food chains. For a brief period in 2004 Ruby Tuesday started to include calorie counts on healthy food choices, but the timing for the initiative was wrong and they stopped. In anticipation of the California law, now would be a good time to start it up again along with a marketing plan speaking directly to families-letting them know that Ruby Tuesday cares about providing healthy nutritious choices for families-while at the same time refusing to sacrifice flavor and creativity.

Young Gourmands

Kids may soon be asking whether your restaurants “buy local” produce from neighboring farms and if the food served is organic. After all, this is what they are learning in school and what they hear their parents talking about. As restaurants look to win the loyalties of this younger demographic they use terms like "kid-adult fusion," and “kiddie foodies” as they make substantial additions in their children's menu items. The aforementioned staples like macaroni and cheese, chicken fingers, grilled cheese and burgers are still on the menu, but grilled fish and a steamed vegetable are also there. Fries have been replaced with healthy alternatives as restaurants look to improve the health of their young diners and their parents at the same time.

From fast food emporiums to fine dining there is a noticeable shift in side-dish options for kids, and health, with the inclusion of more fresh fruits and vegetables. While parents are demanding healthier choices for their children, their kids are gobbling it all up, and when there’s something's on the menu that they like, they're going to ask their parents to bring them to your property again and again and again.

Lead by Example

As most parents know, we try to teach our kids by example. This same principle should apply to the relationship between your food and beverage department and your guests. Give your youngest guests what they want to eat—tasty foods-and they will be running to the dinner table!

Today’s parents have come to expect more on menus for their kids. Children have been exposed to more ethnic foods their palates have become quite sophisticated. Kids know about edamame, Nan bread and humus. They’ve tasted green tea ice cream and sweet potato fries. Four Seasons hotels and resorts around the world have taken the initiative offering gluten-free, whole wheat, soymilk, vegetarian and organic options in their kids’ menus. At the Four Seasons Chicago healthy menu selections and creative concepts include “Design Your Own Tacos” and “TV Dinners”. In Atlanta healthy fruit snacks by the pool are the norm. In Washington the youngest visitors enjoy organic baby food and biscuits. Four Seasons gets it. Besides all the above, upon request, any Four Seasons hotel or resort will prepare a kid-sized portion of anything on the main menu.

Last year Park Hyatt introduced a healthy juice/smoothie menu teaming up with a former Real Madrid soccer team nutrition consultant. The results were so positive that the pilot program launched at 3 properties quickly extended to the other 21 Park Hyatt properties. This is exactly the kind of initiative that if expanded to reach families and marketed properly will draw families to your locations, keeping them healthy while providing unique experiences and memories.

Be Creative

Offer a family activity with one of your chefs to help reinforce and educate your guests and while you serve them some calcium-rich recipes like yogurt smoothies to help them build strong bones at the same time.

Grow a Kid-Friendly Garden on-site. A child’s garden does not need to be oversized, consider containers or small plots no larger than 3 feet square to engage and capture the imagination of your youngest guests. Make sure you have plenty of kid-sized tools and gloves handy to encourage hands on activities and educational programs. Select hardy and colorful plants like snap peas or beans, strawberries, radishes, lettuce and squash. Lastly, start a garden journal to keep track of what’s happening in the garden; your guests will love to return to the garden and read the journal and to see the progress and changes in the garden.

Lastly, consider a recent study presented at the annual meeting of the School of Nutrition Association in Washington DC. The lead author of the study summed up the results when he said, “Cool names can make for cool foods.” Names like “X-ray Vision Carrots”, “Power Peas” and “ Dinosaur Broccoli Trees” were given to 186 four-year-olds on some days, and regular old veggies were given on other days and guess what. . . . on the days the veggies were given the names the kids ate nearly twice as many. It’s really a no brainer, kids like to eat food with a fun or funny name, they think it will be more fun to eat

Today’s economy is challenging. With families struggling to make ends meet, value and quantity have moved into the forefront of family’s desires when dining out. Yet the trends are clear, people want to be healthy and eat healthy. Your mandate is clear, you must find ways to get more fresh fruits and vegetables in the mix, you must seek out local farmers and creative chefs to create compelling and nutritious meals for your youngest guests. This year would be a great year to keep one of your New Year’s resolutions-and not just for you-but for your guests as well.

Matthew G. Rosenberger is a family travel consultant and publisher who works with hotels that want to be recognized as the most family friendly in their region. He is publisher of ABC City Guides for Kids, an all-in-one alphabet book, activity guide and souvenir. The books are customized by hotels and resorts to feature their images, logo and address on the book's front and back covers. Mr. Rosenberger also promotes his selection of family friendly hotels at his website and family travel related assignments through his "We Love Kids" and "TOP FIVE" pick selections. Mr. Rosenberger can be contacted at 215-242-4011 or mgr@kidstravelguides.com Extended Bio...

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