Following guidance from Public Health England (PHE) and the Soil Association, restaurant chain Giraffe has launched a new children’s menu offering two portions of vegetables as standard.

The move comes amid growing concerns around child obesity, with the latest PHE figures showing that 34.3% of year 6 children are now obese.

Working alongside the Soil Association and PHE, Giraffe has brought in new initiatives for kids, including default broccoli instead of fries, and petit pois instead of baked beans, drinks portion size changed to 150ml and served in colourful re-usable plastic cups, as well as kids-size cutlery.

These changes not only encourage a balanced nutritional intake, but development and dexterity too, with NHS guidance emphasising the importance of self-feeding for six month to seven-year-old children.

“It’s important for families to have trust in restaurants to offer healthy options for both children and adults,” said Rob Percival, Head of Policy at Soil Association.

“We help restaurants to ensure food is freshly prepared and cooked from scratch in the kitchen, environmentally-friendly and from sustainable stocks.”