First Lady Michelle Obama and a Darden Restaurants chef greet attendees at an Olive Garden restaurant in Hyattsville, Maryland, Sept. 15, 2011. Mrs. Obama and Darden Restaurants were unveiling the company’s plans for a comprehensive new health and wellness initiative for menu changes to support the Let’s Move! campaign. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
As part of the Let's Move! initiative, this morning First Lady Michelle Obama joined Partnership for a Healthier America, Red Lobster, Olive Garden and other family chains owned by Darden Restaurants to announce a commitment from Darden to reduce calories and sodium in their meals and to provide healthier options in their kids’ menus.
In America today, one of every two dollars spent on food is spent in restaurants, and over one-third of calories consumed in America are eaten at restaurants, so providing nutritious choices in restaurants goes a long way in keeping families healthy. At an Olive Garden in Hyattsville, Maryland, the First Lady explained the significance of this announcement:
Often, parents assume that when a restaurant offers a separate kids’ menu that the food on that menu will actually be good for their kids. They assume that the portion sizes will be reasonable. They assume that the food will be just as nutritious as food that they prepare for their kids at home.
But too often, that’s simply not the case. Research has shown that meals kids eat at restaurants have nearly twice the calories as meals they have at home. And for some options on kids’ menus, they have more than 1,000 calories. One thousand calories — that’s approaching the recommended daily amount of [calories] that you guys should be eating, right?
Fonte: White House