Feeding people well: Why children's menus have a role to play in sustainability

What we eat is one of the major risk factors for both early death and a variety of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and other conditions linked to obesity. Unfortunately, the statistics around childhood obesity are eye-opening; in 2020, 39 million children under the age of five were reported to be overweight or obese. These escalating figures are “of particular concern, given the recent evidence linking childhood and adolescent obesity to increased risk of obesity and morbidity in adulthood.” (WHO, 2023.)

The consequences of unhealthy diets in childhood aren’t solely the knock-on effects of obesity: oral health is another worrying aspect. One recent report revealed that almost one in four five-year-olds in the UK have dental decay — a completely avoidable phenomenon for a developed country in the 21st century.

Research makes it clear that building a positive relationship with healthy, nutritious food needs to begin in childhood. Studies show that “early-life experiences with various tastes and flavours have a role in promoting healthy eating and favouring wider consumption of fruits and vegetables,” and that “food preferences and habits learned at a young age can influence adulthood dietary patterns and weight.”

While parents, of course, must bear much of the responsibility for this on an individual level, restaurants are both public spaces and community hubs — making it our societal duty to ensure that the right options are available to them when eating out of home. Multiple reports in recent months have discussed what a healthy, sustainable diet should look like. Examining typical children’s menus across the Western world, it’s clear that we are falling very, very short.  

Much of the fare found on the typical children’s menu is based around ultra-processed foods. Not only are diets high in these foods linked with heart disease, type-2 diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, cancer and depression, but they’re also deliberately designed to be addictive.

Multiple studies have demonstrated that humans have a hard time recognising our own satiety when eating ultra-processed foods, instead leaning towards over-consumption. In one study, subjects who were fed an ultra-processed diet consumed on average 500 more calories each day than those eating unprocessed food. Meanwhile, as these ultra-processed foods have become more prevalent, many natural, healthy whole foods have taken a back seat in our everyday diets, severely impacting both the quality and diversity of the foods we eat.

Salt is also a problem. Eating too much sodium can increase blood pressure, a major risk factor for strokes and cardiovascular disease; in fact, an estimated 2.5 million deaths could be prevented annually if global salt consumption were reduced to the recommended level. Despite this compelling figure, children’s meals remain far too high in sodium. For example, in the UK, 2022 research conducted by Action on Salt showed that 34% of meals designed for children contain two-thirds of a 4-6-year old’s maximum daily limit of salt (2g). With lifelong habits often formed in childhood, a diet high in salt in our formative years can mean serious consequences later in life.

Why this matters for restaurants