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OCT. NOV. 2019 VIII to families and children must be a constant everywhere – Franco Costa resumes – That’s why it is good, at the planning stage, not to resort to the absolute exasperation of styles, especially if they predominate over food and environment; a place today must be able to be ‘welcoming’ for everyone, including families, and not ‘reserved’ for a single target.” THE IMPORTANCE OF DESIGN There are many places that for various reasons are unable to expand their spaces to accommodate families with children. An intelligent trick to attract them is the use of a ‘conceptual restyling’ using new ideas, where visual situations prevail over the ‘logistical’ aspect: the interaction between light, space and furniture. One example is the fusion restaurant Kanji light , in via San Marco, Milan. This was primarily desired by its client, a group of Chinese people who have been working in Italy for several years, and by its designer, Luca Dondoni, who focused mainly on the furnishings, colours and luminous bodies of the restaurant. The design is particular. The seats and tables are original, they can be composed at will. “The interpretation of the place is scenic – says Dondoni – It recalls gigantism: red flowers, 4 meters high, that recall the shapes that children make when they draw. Shapes and colours that stimulate their imagination.” A valid alternative that can help to interest even the ‘family’ target that today really represents a business opportunity not to be missed! AT PAGE 22 Qi Feeling good at the table Children: healthy eating also in restaurants It is right that restaurateurs, in their own small way, contribute to helping our children grow without food problems. Let’s try to study ‘alternative’ children’s menus By Dr. Barbara Panterna In recent times, during my daily medical activity, I increasingly come across families with overweight or even obese children, with all that it entails: bullying, marginalization, early onset of diseases such as hypertension, hepatic steatosis, type-2 diabetes, dyslipidemias, which normally characterize adulthood. This alarming situation made me think about why we became, in Europe, the country with the highest rate of childhood obesity (between 3-9 years on average). Surely there is a fundamental social problem, of radically changed family habits and, in many cases, also economic reasons. Today, mothers (who historically have always dealt with family nutrition, spending some hours a day in the kitchen, on average) have less time to devote to culinary art because they have to work away from home; others admit instead of not knowing how to cook. All this inevitably leads to excessive consumption of “ready meals” that are quick to manage and cheap but too rich in sugars, fats, dyes and preservatives. Another drawback is that the seasonality of food (fruit and vegetables for example) is no longer followed and, therefore, there is no variation. We therefore lost sight of what made our Mediterranean diet correct and unique. Over the years we have forgotten the good gastronomic traditions, handed down to us by our grandparents, and instead have acquired the bad eating habits that characterize the American nutritional model that certainly does not give a good example given that America is the first country in the world with the highest rate of obese people and mortality due to cardiovascular diseases. Another misleading element, which led us down the wrong path, is media bombardment. All food- related advertisements show us an idyllic world, with stone-ground flours used to create smooth milk snacks, obviously freshly milked from cows grazing on flower- covered mountains. The reality, unfortunately, is now very different but, in the collective imagination, it remains ingrained that a nice focaccia, or a chocolate donut straight from the oven, is the ideal food for the health and joy of our children. Returning to the little variety of foods introduced to our children (and which apparently may seem an irrelevant detail), I would like to point out that this incorrect habit inevitably leads to an imbalance between the nutrients consumed. In most cases, in fact, among the macro and micro nutrients that we have to introduce daily with food, to fully satisfy our body’s needs, carbohydrates (or glucids) and fats (or lipids) take over all the rest. The healthiest proteins (present above all in fish, eggs, white meats and pulses – which are always combined with cereals to have all MAGAZINE