Abstract

VIEGAS, Cláudia et al. Food offer of kids menus in restaurants of portuguese shopping centers: qualitative study. Acta Port Nutr [online]. 2020, n.21, pp.10-14. ISSN 2183-5985.  https://doi.org/10.21011/apn.2020.2103.

Introduction: Out-of-home food consumption has increased and families eating out frequently use shopping centres. Kid´s menus available at restaurants are characterized by contain foods with excessive energy, fat, saturated fat, -trans-fatty acids and salt and low vegetables, complex carbohydrate foods, fibre, and various micronutrients. Objectives: Characterize the availability and quality of kid´s menus in shopping centre restaurants in Portugal. METHODOLOGY: An observational cross-sectional study was carried out in all shopping centres of 6 cities in Portugal. To answer the purposed aims a data collection tool was developed with three-section parts A: Identification of the restaurant, B: Characteristics of the restaurant and C: Characteristics of the kid's menu. Results: From 184 different restaurants evaluated, only 44 provide a kids menu and from these 6 restaurants offer gifts associated with it. The most frequently featured items on the menu are roast or fried chicken (25%), hamburgers grilled or fried (25%), nuggets (18%) and pizza (18%). Potato chips are the most frequent side dish options (41%). Only 6 restaurants offered vegetable soup or vegetables added to the meal. Although the water was available, soft drinks and sugary fruit juices are also options. Sweet dessert is a common part of the menu. Conclusions: Kids' menu options had poor quality with low availability of fruits and vegetables. Shifting foods offered to children in restaurants have the potential to improve diet quality, reduce excess energy intake and promote healthy eating habits.

Keywords : Qualitative evaluation; Kids menu; Restaurant menus.

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