Kids LiveWell can help smaller operations enhance healthful children's options

The day T-BONES Great American Eatery introduced salmon to its children's menu, two children in the first party of the day ordered that dish.

The children's salmon dish is one of the restaurant's new Kids LiveWell offerings. T-BONES is one of the smaller restaurant companies participating in Kids LiveWell, the National Restaurant Association's new initiative to promote healthful children's options.

Kids LiveWell showcases restaurants that offer children's menu items that meet strict nutrition criteria. Participating companies appear on the NRA's website at www.restaurant.org/kidslivewell, and consumers can search the companies and their offerings at www.healthydiningfinder.com.

Kids LiveWell recognizes the importance of giving parents and children more options and information so they can make choices that are right for their families.
"We've got options here so parents and older kids can make the choices they want," says Tom Boucher, a National Restaurant Association board member who owns Great New Hampshire Restaurants. The company operates five T-BONES and two Cactus Jacks and plans to open a third concept this year.

Another smaller company participating in Kids LiveWell is Rockville, Md.-based Silver Diner. Founder and Chef Ype Von Hengst says Kids LiveWell appealed to him because he feels a moral obligation to offer healthful options for children and adults, which is why his restaurants have been offering nutritious food for 21 years.

"Even if you want to offer pancakes or chicken tenders, find a way to make them better," he says.

He suggests that independent operators interested in joining Kids LiveWell start slowly, by offering simple, grilled or baked items. "Even if you have one little diner, one little deli, one little restaurant, you have to give mom and dad options to give their kids healthy food."

Great New Hampshire Restaurants' Boucher began to look at ways to upgrade his children's menus about a year ago. Six months earlier, the company began offering "in the pink" items that were 650 calories or less or had 10 grams of fat or carbs or less.

Although a few children's items fell under 650 calories, Boucher wanted to do more. As he and Executive Chef Nicole Barreira reviewed their kids' menu, the NRA invited them to join Kids LiveWell. So they introduced the salmon dish and tweaked their barbecue chicken to meet the Kids LiveWell nutrition criteria.

"Clearly, Kids LiveWell took [nutritious children's meals] to a whole new level," Boucher says. "We wanted to be on board."

The National Restaurant Association launched Kids LiveWell in July with Healthy Dining, a California-based nutrition-analysis company. At launch, more than 15,000 restaurant locations were represented; since then, several thousand more have joined the initiative.

To qualify for Kids LiveWell, restaurants must offer full children's meals that include an entrée, side and beverage containing no more than 600 calories. Meals must consist of nutrient-rich food, including two servings of fruit, vegetables, whole grain, lean protein and/or low-fat dairy. They also must limit sodium, fat and sugar.

Participating restaurants must offer at least one other side dish that follows similar criteria. They also must provide nutrition information about the meal and promote the items so they are easily identifiable.

The nutrition criteria for Kids LiveWell meals is based on scientific recommendations from the 2010 USDA Dietary Guidelines, the Institutes of Medicine, government guidance for school nutrition an and other health organizations.