This was published 8 years ago
Holiday Inn offers free, healthy meals for kids in conjunction with Nutrition Australia
Healthy food for kids.Credit: Juan Monino
Imagine you're from another planet. Of the oddities observed – aside from the rise of Donald Trump – none is so strange as the kids' menu.
Small earthlings are filled with a salt, sugar and fat. Then large earthlings berate them for behaving badly.
It's like putting rubbish into the fuel tank of a new car and wondering why it won't work properly.
Having happy kids at mealtimes makes a big difference to your break.
The only winners are the restaurateurs (I use that term loosely) who charge $12 for chicken nuggets bought from the supermarket for $2.50.
I mean, what's in those things anyway? (Apparently there are 40 different ingredients, not all of them good for you...)
Finally, one hotel chain is doing something about it.
The kids' menu at Holiday Inn hotels and resorts has been created in conjunction with Nutrition Australia.
A set of 34 main meals, seven desserts and 10 drinks are on the menu, including a healthy stir-fry, DIY falafels, and popcorn chicken (the latter containing breast, not beak and claw).
But it's hard to change the habits of a lifetime – even a short one.
Despite Taj and Grace being brought up on baked tofu, lentil patties and salmon steaks, on holidays they want chips, chocolate and ice-cream: and not of the soy variety.
So, at the new Holiday Inn Cairns, the 11-year-old looks askance at his spaghetti bolognaise.
It doesn't look like the usual fatty fare. Fortunately, it passes the taste test.
And the best bit? Kids eat for free. There's even a play pack with colouring-in, postcards, puzzles – and recipes to try at home.
Or you can shop at the farmers' market on the foreshore, to stock the empty mini-bar with tasty treats.
There are also cooking classes in some of the properties, such as the Holiday Inn Resort Phuket Mai Khao Beach.
Here, the kids make dough for a ham and pineapple pizza, while I whip up a Tom Yum Goong.
What better way to teach them about fresh produce, rather than processed pap?
The sister property on Patong Beach, Holiday Inn Phuket, has one of the best buffets on the island, with a low bench on which kids can create their own breakfasts.
In fact, there are six interactive stations with food from all over the world, including a cold room for salads and sushi.
This is the brave new world of children's catering. And about bloody time.
It's never made sense to stymie development by stuffing them with fat, sugar and salt.
Sure, parents could say "no". But when every choice is crap? Well, whattya do? The pester power wears you down – especially on holidays.
Five stars to restaurants like Teshi's at the Holiday Inn Cairns, which are helping healthy families.
And a big "boo" to those still serving nuggets: It's stupid and short-sighted, to feed the obesity crisis.
Families deserve better.
Tracey Spicer and family stayed in Cairns, Queensland, and Phuket, Thailand, courtesy of Holiday Inn hotels and resorts.
Email: tracey.spicer@fairfaxmedia.com.au
Twitter: @TraceySpicer
Instagram: @TraceySpicer
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