Compatibility of menus to children’s needs in selected hotels in Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

This paper examined the compatibility of hotel menus to children’s needs. The study used a survey research design. Simple random sampling was used to select the respondents from the target population. The target population comprised of hotel employees, parents and children. Data was collected using questionnaires and non-participant observations were occasionally employed to supplement the information that was captured by the questionnaire. Data was cleaned, analyzed quantitatively and presented using frequency tables and graphs. The findings revealed that many Kenyan hotels do not have identified children’s menus thus children are left to eat from adult menus which totally vary in presentation, nutrition, portion sizes and also in delivery. The population of children is therefore left without many choices as they seem to be a forgotten lot. It is therefore recommended that hotels provide foods compatible to children in terms of texture, presentation, nutrient content and color so as to encourage them to eat as well as enjoy their meals. In addition hotels should offer special feeding facilities for the children to enable them get pleasure from their feeding experience and also employ trained employees in their food production to cater for children.