StevePSU1 said:
USDA recommendations for a moderately active 3 year old = 1400 calories and 9 years old = 1800 calories DAILY. If you divide the 400 calorie difference between 3 meals, the difference between the 3 year old and a 9 year old is 133 calories per meal. Very easy to accomodate both. Additionally, you have to assume that children will be eating between meals to make up the difference as well.
Is it wonderful that every child is different? My child is a very active 34-month old. He is between 35 and 36 inches tall. He weighs 28 pounds. He is not a "pickey eater" in terms of only likely a few foods - he will eat a wide variety of foods, from guacomole and black beans and rice to grilled salmon and green beans to the ubiquitous macaroni and cheese. He has always been on the low side of the weight curve, at times dropping off completely. Based on recommendations of pediatricians and nutritionists, we are constantly finding ways to "plus" his food with calories. Mac and cheese gets extra butter and extra cheese. Cooked vegetables get extra butter, and so on. One thing is, although he has a wide variety of food he eats, it does not mean he will eat the same thing every day. Far from it. One day, pizza may elicite a "WOW!" and big, wide eyes, another day pizza may be turned down completely. Yesterday guacamole was a big hit, but tomorrow he would likely refuse it. I've seen him turn down even the favorites of macaroni and cheese and oreo cookies in favor of something else.
So our approach is to provide a variety of foods. Now, we could take the aproach of "this isn't a restaurant, eat what you have in front of you." Two things about that, first we don't have that much of a luxury because if he doesn't want to eat it he won't. He'll go without, and he's had days where he basically goes without eating if he isn't in the mood to eat. Second, we recognize that he is a normally developing two-year-old, and is seeking autonomy. One thing that a child this age can have a since of control over is what they put in their mouths. We can hit that head on in a direct head-to-head conflict and insist on imposing our will and ulitmately we could win that conflict. We are bigger and stronger. Or, we can take the approach that we use and say "you can eat X or Y, which would you like?" and give him a choice. The options we give on a given occasion are limited, and we can live with either choice. And sometimes it is just a mattter of "do you want a giant pancake or silver-dollar sized pancakes?" Guess what, kid, you having a pancake, but it feels to him that he had a choice there and we avoid making an issue out of forcing food. Because our child has always been a hit or miss eater, we take that approach. That means we have to put the forethought into structuring the situation rather than just forcing the issue.
Our child has had a lot of restaurant experience and is well-behaved for his age. There has been a temper-tantrum or two in his lifetime that resulted in being removed, but 9/10 times he is great. At disney world our child is very active. He plays in the playgrounds, swims in the pools, explores in the parks. What a kid should be doing. He does burn a lot of energy. He isn't on a low-fat diet at home, he shouldn't be on vacation. I certainly won't be. I don't think a restricted range of meal choices are in his best interest, or any other kid. Again, I don't think that low-fat diets are at all appropriate for young children. I am concerned about the availability of things like whole milk rather than reduced fat milk, and so on.
It would have been so simple to include these menus in a way that wouldn't seem repetitive. I can imagine older kids getting really burned out on seeing the same thing over and over.
They have three low-fat diets, a, b, and c. Pick two of those for each restaurant and you have three combinations:
ab
bc
ac
They have two pretty standard non-low-fat meals, hamburger or mac and cheese. Add a third one, say chicken nuggets, and then pick two for each restaurant and you have three combinations:
de
ef
df
Now, you have nine combinations of two low-fat meals and two non-low-fat meals:
abde
abef
abdf
bcde
bcef
bcdf
acde
acef
acdf
Now, add one meal to each restaurant that is tied to the theme of that restaurant (e.g., spaghetti and meatballs at tony's and mama melrose; kid's turkey and dressing feast at liberty tree; mahi mahi at kona; steak at concourse; shrimp at olivias, etc.).
Now there are five items at each restuarant, the same as with this plan. But there are no restaurants with identicial menus. There are at least two low-fat options at each restaurant, and at least two "typical kid comfort food" options at each restaurant. Plus something thematic at each one. So parents who restrict the menus of their children to low-fat can still have choices, parents who do not still have choices. On the financial side, disney still benefits from having the limited range if menu items (six standardized menu items vs. the current five) plus one thing that is from the ingredients already available at that particular location. Additionally, disney also has the benefits of "fitting" the children's meu to reflect the dining plan (e.g., kids meals with "kids" appetizers, increased cost of kids meals) that were associated with this meal plan change.
This would give variety and keep children and parents from seeing the same menu at lunch and supper in 11 restaurants. It would be better show, better for the kids, and better for the parents. It would have all the benefits of the current standardized menu and reduce the drawbacks.
. She went on to say that I could purchase dessert type items throughout the park (oop, of course) if the kids CS dessert was not suitable. Alrighty then...
