Dr Stanton says her own research into the eating patterns of 8-12 year olds has shown that children are sick of being treated like second-class citizens when it comes to eating out and that they would like to have real food like their parents.

"For too long children have been treated like an after-thought when it comes to restaurants," said Dr Stanton. "We wouldn't dream of serving up frozen chicken nuggets to adults so shouldn't children also have the option of freshly prepared, nutritionally balanced meals when they eat out?"

Dr Stanton says it's time parents and other adults started taking seriously the health implications of children's eating habits. Being overweight is not just an image issue, but one which costs Australians more than $2 billion a year in weight-related health problems including heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and orthopaedic problems, not to mention the social discrimination issues of poor self-esteem and depression. For the first time ever, children are getting Type 2 diabetes, a disease once seen only in overweight adults over 40 or 50.
 

"It is important that when children are on holiday they don't fill up on too many junk foods that are bad for them," said Michael Issenberg, Accor's Managing Director for Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific and Japan.  "It's important that children see that treats can be healthy and we want to teach our young guests that good food can be fun food."

In line with healthy recommendations from the Obesity Summit, there are no artificial flavourings or colourings, no frozen french fries and no high-sugar foods with little nutritional virtue.

The new Novotel Dolfi Kids menu also follows Dr Stanton's research which found that: children want food more like what their parents are served but in appropriate sizes and without the fancy garnishes; children like food they can pick up with their hands; children, if served a hamburger and chips would often only eat the chips; children like fish fingers, not because of the crunchy fried texture but because there are no bones.  Importantly, Dr Stanton's research showed overwhelmingly that simple food is always the best.

Accor has, for many years, offered its adult guests healthy menu choices designed in conjunction with Harvard Medical School. The extension of this program to young guests is in keeping with Novotel's family-friendly philosophy. 

The new Dolfi Kids menu will be available from 1 March 2003 in all 28 Novotel hotels and resorts across Australia and New Zealand.

Accor is the worldwide leader in hotels, tourism and corporate services, employing 150,000 people in 140 countries.