Lack of healthy food options on children's menus of restaurants in the health-disparate Dan River region of Virginia and North Carolina, 2013.

Introduction: Interest has increased in understanding the types and healthfulness of restaurant foods for children, particularly in disadvantaged areas. The purpose of this community-based participatory research study was to describe the quality of restaurant food offered to children in a health-disparate region in Virginia and North Carolina and to determine if the availability of healthy foods differed by location (rural, urban) or by the predominant race (black, white, mixed race) of an area's population.

Methods: Restaurants offering a children's menu in the 3 counties in Virginia and North Carolina that make up the Dan River Region were identified by using state health department records.