Nutrition Quality of Children’s Menus Offered by Fast-Food and Traditional-Food Chain Restaurants

Background

Foods consumed outside the home contribute to an increasing proportion of total dietary intake in many countries. Eating away from home has been associated with the consumption of larger portions, higher energy intakes, and inadequate nutrient intakes. Many restaurants offer children’s menus; however, these often lack healthy choices. The nutrition quality of children’s menus of chain restaurants in Costa Rica is unknown.

Objective

To characterize foods offered by children’s menus of chain restaurants and to determine whether differences exist in the nutrition quality between fast-food and traditional restaurants.

Study Design, Settings, Participants

Cross-sectional study design, assessing chain restaurants located in main shopping centers of the Greater Metropolitan Area of Costa Rica (n=74 unique chain restaurants).

Measurable Outcome/Analysis

After adapting and evaluating its inter-observer reliability, the Kids Menu Healthy Score (KIMEHS) was used to determine the nutritional quality of children’s menus. The presence of a children’s menus, KIMHES individual categories (presence/absence) and overall KIMHES score were determined. The Mann Whitney test was used to determine whether differences existed in the nutrition quality according to KIMHES between fast-food and traditional restaurant, at a significance of P < 0·05.

Results

Of all restaurants, 41.9% offered a children’s menu. According to KIMEHS, 96.8% of the menus were considered unhealthy. There were no significant differences between fast food and traditional restaurants. The most common main dishes were chicken nuggets (83.9%), hamburgers (54.8%) and pasta (41.9%). Most restaurants (83.9%) included French fries as a side dish. Only 6.4% offered fruit in their menus.

Conclusions

The children’s menus offered had poor nutritional quality, with limited variety and availability of healthy options. There is a need for policies and practices that promote better nutritional quality of food options for children when they eat outside the home.

Funding

None