There was an interesting story on the cover of The New York Times food section this morning about kids’ menus in restaurants. While menus aimed at children seem like a good idea — taking the pressure off Mom and Dad, giving kids a “special” menu of their own and so on — the real import is that the food offered on kids’ menus is inevitably bad for them: Fried chicken tenders or nuggets, french fries, pizzas loaded with cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches. So while Mom and Dad may be choosing their dinner judiciously, Dick and Jane are chowing down on fat and cholesterol. Surely restaurants could go to some effort to make menus for children not only appealing to the sensibilities of budding gourmets (or those who don’t want their food to touch on the plate) but simple, healthy and tasty at the same time. Kids’ menus ought to be about more than just placating children and keeping them quiet by stuffing their mouths with fare of the lowest common denominator.