Restaurant chain Giraffe has launched a new children’s menu, now offering two portions of veg as standard, with all kid’s meals – following guidance from Soil Association.
The move from the high-street restaurant chain comes amid growing concerns around child obesity, with latest figures from Public Health England showing that 34.3% of year 6 children are now obese*. Working alongside the Soil Association and Public Health England, Giraffe has brought in new initiatives for kids, including default broccoli (instead fries) and petit pois (instead of baked beans), drinks portion size changed to 150ml and served in colourful re-usable plastic cups, as well as kids-size cutlery.
These changes not only encourage a balanced nutritional intake, but development and dexterity too, with NHS guidance emphasising the importance of self-feeding for six month to seven-year-old children*.
A 2016 study revealed that almost one in four primary school children in Britain were unable to use a knife and fork*, showing a real need for restaurants to support parents in encouraging this development, whilst giving children the confidence to use cutlery correctly.
Rob Percival, Head of Policy at Soil Association said “It’s important for families to have trust in restaurants to offer healthy options for both children and adults. We help restaurants to ensure food is freshly prepared and cooked from scratch in the kitchen, environmentally friendly and from sustainable stocks.”
With the summer holidays underway, Giraffe has further pushed the focus to family and kids, partnering with Schleich toys to offer ‘love me for life’ animal figures free with each children’s meal.
Little ones have the chance to collect five different figurines from the Schleich Wild Life series including a polar bear, elephant, ring-tailed lemur, zebra and of course the stunning giraffe with every kid’s meal purchased.
Tom Crowley, CEO of Giraffe Restaurants said, “Families have always been an important part of Giraffe and we’re working hard, partnering with PHE and the Soil Association, to make sure we’re offering healthy options for kids.
“The summer holidays are a time for families to spend quality time together and the free Schleich toys offered to kids, help to keep them happy – in restaurant and back at home.”
The new Giraffe kids menu and Schleich toys are available in restaurants now.
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