Children’s Intake of Food from Non-Fast-Food Outlets and Child-Specific Menus: A Survey of Parents

• Main Authors: Li Kheng Chai, Sze Lin Yoong, Tamara Bucher, Clare E Collins, Vanessa A Shrewsbury
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-11-01
• Series: Children
• Subjects: childhood obesity; food environment; child menu; preschool; non-fast-food outlets
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/6/11/123

Eating out-of-home is associated with higher energy intakes in children. The continued high prevalence of childhood obesity requires a greater understanding of child menu options and eating out frequency to inform appropriate regulatory initiatives. The majority of studies to date have focused on menus from fast-food outlets with few focused on non-fast-food outlets. This study aimed to describe parents&#8217; reports of their child(ren)&#8217;s (aged up to 6 years) frequency of consuming foods at non-fast-food outlets, observations of child menus at these outlets, and their purchasing behaviours and future preferences regarding these menus; and if their responses were influenced by sociodemographic characteristics. Ninety-five parents completed a 15-item cross-sectional survey. Overall, children from 54% of families consumed food from non-fast-food outlets at least monthly. Of the 87 parents who reported that their child eats at a non-fast-food restaurant, 71 had children who ordered from child menus every time (7%, <i>n</i> = 5), often (29%, <i>n</i> = 22), sometimes (42%, <i>n</i> = 32) or rarely (16%, <i>n</i> = 12), with a further 7% (<i>n</i> = 5) never ordering from these menus. All parents indicated that they would like to see a higher proportion of healthy child menu items than is currently offered. Parents&#8217; responses were not influenced by sociodemographic characteristics. Parents&#8217; views support implementation of initiatives to increase availability of healthy options on child menus at non-fast-food outlets.