Top 6 Tips for Eating Out with Kids

• September 12th, 2009
• Posted in Kids Nutrition, Nutrition by jennywesterkamp
• Comments (6)
• Tags: dining out, tips for kids

If you’re heading out to a restaurant with your family, these tips will give you confidence to make healthy choices, while enjoying everyone’s company. This can, however, be challenging for your little ones since the kid’s menu usually includes pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, fries and the ever-popular chicken nuggets. What’s a parent to do?

1. Ask questions – Ask the waiter how each dish is prepared. Stay away from fried or breaded options. Choose grilled or roasted whenever possible.
2. Get what you want, how you want it – Don’t be afraid to switch things up on the menu. Most restaurants are accommodating, so make the “vegetables instead of fries” switch and feel good about it!
3. Do your Homework – Visit the restaurant’s website ahead of time for healthy menu selections. They may even have the nutrition facts on their items too. If not, you can always ‘Google’ for this information.  Check out www.healthydiningfinder.com for helpful restaurant dining details.
4. Have them eat like an adult, just cut the portions – Split a healthier adult entrée or allow your child to take home half the dish for later. Ask for the take-home box right when you order and pack up half before you start the meal. Don’t forget super salads make a great meal and help families meet their veggie quota -just ask for dressing on the side.
5. Ban the buffets – They set up your family for overeating. With so many flavors available, you’ll want to try a ‘little bit of everything’. Remember this trick: Instead of going up for seconds, wait at least 20 minutes after eating your first portion. If you’re still hungry, then go ahead. If not, head to the parking lot.
6. Savor the food and the moment – Family meals are a wonderful way to spend time with each other. It is also opportune for food lessons. Teach your children how to eat slowly and without distractions. That way, they can really enjoy their food. To slow things down, teach them to put their forks down or sip water in between bites. Aim for the actual eating time to last at least 20 minutes.

We all know teenagers love to eat out too! Here are some helpful hints especially for them: Eating out tweens and teens.

6 Responses to “ Top 6 Tips for Eating Out with Kids ”

1. huile essentielle on October 6th, 2009 3:10 am
   

   Hi,
   Thanks for this nice article.It is very helpful for those who have very naughty kids.

2. hoodia gordonii on October 29th, 2009 8:39 am
   

   I have read whole article based on the Eating tips.This post is amazing as it creates a good awareness among others.I like all six tips for eating.

3. christmas stocking fillers on November 2nd, 2009 1:49 am
   

   Thats true. We need to take care about all these things to make sure that kids learn from it to choose the better and get better.

4. magnesium on November 5th, 2009 10:31 pm
   

   I like your all working tips. The tips given by you has really helped me a lot and I have gained much information from these tips.

5. High School Reunion Diet on December 26th, 2009 6:24 pm
   

   Great points about asking how it’s prepared. Fried foods seem to get everyone! We posted a few really nasty pictures of the most fried foods you’ve ever seen on our Twitter (just started following you from @HSRDiet). Thought you might like them as further support for your point 🙂
   Anyways, your blogs are great, keep them up!

6. banitrobown on March 4th, 2010 9:20 pm
   

   i truly adore your writing style, very useful.
   don’t quit and keep posting simply because it simply good worth to read it,
   impatient to look into a lot more of your article content, good bye!

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