Let’s be honest—most “kids menus” at restaurants are a recipe for a lifetime of obesity and diabetes. Chicken nuggets, fried everything, mac and cheese with zero nutritional value, fries on repeat, and maybe (if you’re lucky) a side of applesauce drowning in sugar. Vegetables? Nowhere in sight. And don’t even get me started on the drink options—it’s nothing but sugar water dressed up as soda or juice.
Parents, trust me—your kids don’t have to be raised this way. My daughter Lucy is six years old, and she has never had soda. Not once. The only things she’s ever had to drink are water and milk. Not even juice—because once the fiber is stripped out, juice is basically just sugar in a cup. And here’s the thing: she doesn’t miss it. If you don’t introduce those unhealthy habits, they don’t crave them.
We say we want to raise healthy, thriving adults, but that starts with the choices we make for them as children. Food is one of the biggest ones.
Here’s what we do instead:
1. Share Your Meal
Restaurant portions are enormous. More often than not, I split my plate with Lucy if the kids menu is lackluster. She gets to try real food—actual flavors, spices, and balance—and I don’t leave stuffed. Win-win.
2. Make Vegetables a Requirement
I don’t force my kids to eat something they truly dislike, but vegetables are non-negotiable. Both of our kids know there are plenty of veggies they do enjoy, and those are always on the plate.
3. The “Family Promise” Rule
In our house, you don’t get to decide you dislike something without trying it. One bite—every time. That’s our “family promise.” If they don’t like it, no big deal, they don’t have to finish it. But in another month or two, they’ll try it again. Palates change, and sometimes all it takes is the right preparation for a food to go from “no thanks” to “yum.”
4. Exposure Is Everything
Kids can’t develop healthy habits or adventurous palates if they aren’t exposed to them. Keep introducing new flavors. Order something colorful to share. Skip the soda and juice. Normalize water and nutrient-dense foods as the default.
Raising kids to be healthy adults means helping them make healthy choices now. The “kids menu” may be convenient, but it’s not cultivating health. It’s cultivating bad habits. And our kids deserve better.
So next time you’re out to eat, skip the “kids menu.” Share your plate. Try something new. Raise a kid who grows up to say, “I actually like vegetables.”
Trust me, it’s worth it.
And if you need proof? You should see Anderson take down a Caesar salad!
Raising Light 