Federation claims it will tackle obesity with family-friendly menus
THE IRISH Hotels Federation (IHF) has just launched a healthy eating initiative for children which will see it provide hotel chefs with preparation guidelines for healthy meals along with a range of nutritious "family-friendly menus".
The organisation, which represents more than 1,000 hotels and guesthouses throughout the State, claims the initiative is the first nationally coordinated campaign of its kind in Europe.
Matthew Ryan, the newly elected president of the IHF, announced the initiative to 400 hoteliers at the organisation's annual conference in Kilkenny last week. "There is a growing problem of obesity among children and teenagers in Ireland," says Ryan, "and I know from eating out with my own three kids, that there is often a lack of choice out there.
"I was thinking that as an industry, maybe we could be doing more. Healthy eating habits are established early in life, so our aim is to assist parents to choose healthier food options for their children."
Chicken nuggets and chips, it would appear, have had their day. "I think those meals were meeting the demand of the time. That's what people wanted, but food is evolving - it's not the same as it was 20 years ago. We recognise that we have to take it to the next level now.
"There are an estimated 300,000 overweight or obese children in Ireland and we prepare about five million meals a year for children so we have to do our bit."
The initiative, he says, is about making small changes. "It's not rocket science. If we are going to have chips we should be doing it in the best way possible - have them home-made and maybe baked instead of fried. We have to have a balanced, measured approach. Kids love chips and I am not going to be the one to tell them they can't have them.
"But we can offer them a healthier chip or an alternative. That's the key. We also want to moderate the amount of fizzy drinks we are selling to children. This doesn't mean we just give them water - there are lots of alternatives like milk, smoothies and juices. I hear people saying that it won't work or that it's not practical but I think families will appreciate this and the children will appreciate it too."
So how will the programme work? "It is a voluntary code for all our members but I am confident that 90 per cent of them will sign up.
"We are not proposing to change everything overnight, this is a phased process of education for our members starting from May 2008. There will be a certain amount of training involved and we will run seminars for the hotels.
"But we have very qualified chefs out there and a lot of this is just about using different methods for preparing food, for example, baking instead of frying. The hotels themselves are consulting with us in preparing the menus."
Participating premises, he says, will display a symbol so that parents can make an informed choice about where they choose to give their custom to.
The IHF is working with dietitian Margot Brennan to design menu options. "I think adults can make up their own minds," says Brennan, "and on most adult menus there are usually healthy options.
"But within the price bracket for kids' meals, traditionally there hasn't been any choice. I am coming at it from two perspectives.
"Firstly, as a dietitian who is concerned about the huge increase in obesity. Secondly, as a mother of four kids myself from ages 14 down to four, I know that the older ones in particular just do not want to go out and eat crap, processed food.
"It does vary hugely but the majority of these menus are offering chicken nuggets and chips, sausages and chips or fish-fingers and chips and that is hugely frustrating to me. Those meals are very high in fat and poor in nutrients. In addition, many hotels and restaurants are not willing to offer half portions for kids and you don't want to make a scene."
The new menu options are about non-processed foods, cooked in a healthy way. "There are days when we all want chips, of course there are. But there should also be a healthy alternative, like wedges cooked in a small amount of oil or pasta. It's about spaghetti Bolognese cooked from scratch, home-made soups and smoothies. It's about cooking in an imaginative, kid-focused way."
Is this an opportunity for hotels to increase the price of their children's menu meals?
"I don't think it should be," says Brennan. "But at the same time I don't think parents would mind paying a little extra if they know that it's a healthier meal. If they cost more, it will act as a disincentive and that would defeat the whole purpose of the thing. These meals shouldn't be more expensive to prepare and the quantities being offered are proportionate to kids' appetites."
Nutrition consultant Paula Mee believes that "kid's menus" in hotels and restaurants are part of a wider problem and that kids are constantly offered a less nutritious option when they are eating outside the home.
"Whether it be eating in hotels or restaurants or at the cinema or bowling alley, there is very little option but for them to choose the less nutritious option.
"We know from various studies that our children are eating too much saturated fat and not enough vegetables, fruit and fibre and these meals that they get when eating out are not helpful. They largely consist of high-fat, processed meats and typically there is not a vegetable in sight. It is pretty bad for the child's main meal of the day."
While broadly welcoming the initiative, Mee also challenges the need to have children's menus in the first place. "I would say that any initiative which aims to tackle our growing obesity problem is welcome, but in my view children should be sitting at the adult's table and eating what the adults are eating.
"When we let them eat these things like nuggets and chips they get stuck in a rut and they never grow out of it when they start to make their own food choices. They are then reluctant to try other things, like fish or vegetables."
An alternative to the kids' menu, she says, would be to offer half or quarter-sized portions from the adult dishes and then charge appropriately. "They would obviously need to be a little more flexible with how they cook the dish but it doesn't have to be a totally different menu. I would like to see the IHF consider this also."
President of the Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) Gina Murphy confirmed that the organisation does not have specific plans for a similar initiative. "We have always promoted healthy eating policies among our members and we were one of the core participants in the Happy Heart Eat Out campaign.
"I think things are changing, consumers are more aware of their diet and are demanding healthier options when eating out. Restaurants still have chicken pieces on the kids' menu but they are chicken strips, not processed chicken. I think that's the case with the majority of our members."