Restaurants Participating in Kids Live Well Program

Wednesday, July 13, 2011, 16:33
$$ Saving Sites, Go Out for Less
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There are 19 restaurant chains participating in the new ”Kids LiveWell” program. They include Au Bon Pain, Bonefish Grill, Burger King, Burgerville, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Chevys Fresh Mex, Chili’s Grill & Bar, Corner Bakery Cafe, Cracker Barrel, Denny’s, El Pollo Loco, Friendly’s, IHOP, Joe’s Crab Shack, Outback Steakhouse, Silver Diner, Sizzler, T-Bones Great American Eatery and zpizza. These 19 chains represent over 15,000 locations across the country.

Here are some highlights from the press release from the National Restaurant Association :

“Ttoday a new nationwide initiative was unveiled that provides parents and children with a growing selection of healthful menu options when dining out. “Kids LiveWell,” a program the Association launched today in collaboration with Healthy Dining, highlights how restaurants are creating innovative solutions to provide better-for-you menu options.

“Kids LiveWell” is a first-of-its-kind voluntary initiative that shows the restaurant industry’s commitment to offering healthful menu items for children, with a focus on increasing consumption of fruit and vegetables, lean protein, whole grains and low-fat dairy, and limiting unhealthy fats, sugars and sodium.

To join “Kids LiveWell,” restaurants agree to offer and promote a selection of items that meet qualifying criteria based on leading health organizations’ scientific recommendations, including the 2010 USDA Dietary Guidelines. Healthy Dining’s team of registered dietitians has worked with participating restaurants to identify and validate the menu choices that meet the “Kids LiveWell” criteria. The criteria include the following components:

Offer a children’s meal (an entree, side and beverage) with 600 calories or less; two servings of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and/or low-fat dairy; with limits on sodium, fats and sugar;

Offer at least one other individual item with 200 calories or less, with limits on fats, sugars and sodium, plus contain a serving of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein or low-fat dairy;

Display or make available upon request the nutrition profile of the healthful menu options; and

Promote/identify the healthful menu options.
Parents can find more information in the “Kids LiveWell” section on www.HealthyDiningFinder.com.
To learn more about “Kids LiveWell,” please visit www.restaurant.org/kidslivewell. ”

Eating well while eating out is tricky for everyone. It’s expensive too! I recommend using these 2 websites to find out which restaurants are having “Kids Eat Free” or Kids Meal Deal” specials.

Kids Meal Deals is a free website where you can search by zip code to find what restaurants are offering “Kids Eat Free” deals or special promotions for dining out with the kids. You can search by city, zip code, day of the week and coming soon, type of cuisine. HERE is the link to Kids Meal Deals.

MyKidsEatFree- lists reduced prices or free kids meals at over 3,277 restaurants. They also have a link on their home page with money-saving tips for family friendly discounts on attractions.

These two sites are great resources to use at home and on vacation when eating out every night can get very expensive!

If you like saving money as much as I do, subscribe for free to get my emails. No spam, no junk, just the best deals that I find. If you have a frugal friend or two, help me grow by telling them about MWLT. I sincerely appreciate it when my readers help me by sharing deals!

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