fries with that?
A convenient history of the kids’ menu
1921 New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel offers one of the earliest children’s menus. According to Slate, it offers suc bland meals as flaked chicken over boiled rice, and mixed green vegetables in butter.
1933 At The Cortile in New York, the menu ‘for little children’ is mostly similar to the “business men's luncheon” and includes such options as cream of spinach soup, broiled lamb chop or a ‘fresh vegetable luncheon’ for 45 cents
1946 Just as the Baby Boom starts to explode, Bob Wian opens the first Big Boy restaurant, deliberately designing it to be a welcoming place for families. He pioneers parent-friendly touches such as guar- anteed booster seats and free colouring books.
1958 Earliest mention of the chicken finger in the New York Public Library's database of restaurant menus. Listed in the ‘children's dinners’ section at Chickland in Saugus, Mass., it's part of a $1.25 meal that includes five chicken fingers with gravy, plus mashed potatoes, vege- tables, a roll, a glass of milk, and a choice of dessert.
1963 Processed poultry pioneer Robert C. Baker develops the first frozen, breaded chicken nugget/finger/ strip at Cornell University, calling it the ‘chicken stick’ (he also invented the chicken hotdog, made from hens that were too old to lay eggs).
1970s As more mothers enter the workforce, restaurant entrepreneurs experiment with family-friendly formats. One of the chains that makes it is Chuck E. Cheese's. President Gene Landrum shares the secret to appealing to children with Food
Service Marketing magazine in 1977, admitting: ‘Our pizza is thin-crust and relatively bland.’
1979 McDonald's Happy Meal, its first product specifically made for children, debuts.
1979 According to Statistics Canada, 3% of adolescents age 12 to 17 are obese, and the number of under-12s is too small to be statistically significant.
1983 Chicken McNuggets are introduced at McDonald's, bringing battered and deepfried chicken meat to the masses.
1980s Adoption of microwave ovens and improvements in food-packaging technology lead to rise in popularity of convenience foods.
1988 Oscar Mayer introduces its highly processed line of Lunchables snacks and meals, which small children can eat themselves without adult preparation or supervision. Early 1990s Mass-produced chicken fingers help propel the food item's popularity to new heights.
2004 Nine per cent of Canadian adolescents 12 to 17 are obese, as are 8% of children 6 to 11.
2007 Members of the Canadian Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative — including such fast-food heavy hitters as Kraft, Burger King and McDonald's — pledge to use their advertising initiatives and strategies to children under 12 only for products that represent ‘healthier dietary choices.’
2011 McDonald's rejigs its Happy Meals to now contain apple slices and fewer fries.
2013 Frozen foods have been declining in sales for more than a decade, partially because of the indifference of younger consumers who prefer fresh over frozen. Subcategories, including ‘handheld breakfast foods,’ continue to grow.
Fall 2016 New Canadian Community Health Survey on Nutrition to be released. It will be the first large-scale nutrition survey since 2004.