Top Ten nutrition tips - creating healthier menus for children

PubChef talks to Eileen Steinbock, head of health and nutrition at Brakes, about her tips for creating a healthier menu for children:

1 Provide variety

Variety is key, both in the range of dishes offered and also in the components of an individual meal. A variety of different foods and nutritional requirements needs to be included to create a balanced offering.

2 Make the dishes fun and exciting

Be innovative with your serving ideas by cutting vegetables into shapes, making faces or pictures out of them, or creating themed dishes.

3 Remember five-a-day

It is recommended that five portions of fruit and vegetables are consumed per day. As a handy guide, a child's sized portion is enough to fit into their hand, so will grow as they do.

4 Include vegetables in all dishes

This is a great way to disguise veg for those who have an aversion to anything green, and they still count as a portion. A great idea would be lasagne with a vegetable layer or pizza and pasta with extra vegetables "hidden" in the sauce.

5 Include fruit in desserts

No one is saying get rid of the ice cream altogether; just make sure that it comes with plenty of fruit. Most children have a preference for fruit over vegetables because of the sweetness.

6 Offer smaller portions of adult dishes

This not only doubles your children's menu but is also appealing to many youngsters who want to feel more "grown up".

7 Aim to grill, bake or roast

Try to use these cooking methods as an alternative to frying.

8 Choose reduced-salt options

Cutting down the salt intake is an important target when developing healthier children's menus. Salt in children's diets comes mainly from processed food, particularly kids' favourites such as chicken nuggets, sausages and burgers. Look out for reduced salt alternatives. Also, try to reduce the salt that you add to dishes and use more spices and herbs instead.

9 Consider the 'hidden' salt

Do not add salt to dishes that contain salty ingredients such as bacon, ham, cheese and cured meats.

10 Avoid artificial additives

Watch the ingredients on very brightly coloured foods and avoid artificial additives where possible.