Guest sara g Posted November 8, 2003 Share Posted November 8, 2003 I am currently devising a healthy eating policy for the nursery where i work. Has anybody got one at their setting, there are no standards for the quality of food that day care settings provide. Do you think there should be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted November 9, 2003 Share Posted November 9, 2003 Hi Sara - Good question that! We place quite an emphasis on our snacktime and state that children will receive a nutritious snack. As we are not full daycare we only do a snack - however, we do try to make it a substantial social occasion where many plates are provided and children are encouraged to sit together, pass things around and generally learn how to make a meal an enjoyable and social event. In order to do this we avoid pre-packed snackbars and drinks and the meal is usually comprised of most of the following: Buttered Toast (generally wholemeal) Crumpets Bananas (sliced in bowls) Apples (peeled and cut) Raisins We also do occasional cookery where whenever it seems possible - judged on the colour of the bread for example - ( ) we let all the children sample the cooking that the cooks have provided, usually the next day. There are two useful book by Totline Books on cooking for children's snacktime: Teaching Snacks Multicultural Snacks - let me know if you need more details! We don't have a policy as such - but hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 10, 2003 Share Posted November 10, 2003 Hi Sara We have a healthy eating policy in the pre-school I run. We only have snacks but try to keep them as healthy as possible-cheese, breadsticks, apples, bananas, raisins, toast. That sort of thing. The children have milk, water or very, very weak orange juice. Some of them don't like either water or milk and I feel they need a drink of some sort-hence the orange juice. Mind you that is almost like water!! The children do not have sweet foods in pre-school unless it is a special occasion, such as an end of term party. Stockport have had a meeting recently to devise a healthy eating policy for all settings in the borough to use or adapt-unfortunately I couldn't get to the meeting. I have just received a questionnaire today which we are all going to complete on which to base this policy. If you want I could send you a copy for you to use? Let me know. Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 16, 2003 Share Posted November 16, 2003 Hi everyone We don't have an actual healthy eating policy in my setting, I wasn't aware you needed one. We use common sense. Our snacks range from toast, biscuits, breadsticks, veg - carrots, cucumber etc. and fruit - apples, bananas and oranges. Some parents have also bought in kiwis. We ask our parents if when they are out shopping and they see a buy 1 get one 1 offer on fruit - whether we can have the free one, and it works. We have a regular supply of fruit at no cost to us, and being a parent run group the more savings we can make the better. When we do cooking, usually the children take their efforts home, but recently for Diwali one of my staff cooked chapatis with the children, and they had theirs for their snack - they loved them. Mobbsters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 16, 2003 Share Posted November 16, 2003 Hi Mobbsters You don't have to have a healthy eating policy-but our care inspector from OFSTED was pleased that we had. It isn't very long and just says basically what you have written-what snacks we offer, drinks etc. Also included is the fact that we do not encourage children to bring sweets into pre-school. Sometimes they bring them when it is their birthday and we give them to parents/carers at the end of the session not to the children. It is up to parents then when they eat them-although we tell the children that they should save them until after lunch. This is in our policy also. We have children staying for lunch, they bring a packed lunch, and we encourage parents to make this as healthy and simple as possible. Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 17, 2003 Share Posted November 17, 2003 Dear All, Just food for thought!! Sorry about the pun - we had an hygienist in to talk to the children - an ex Mum in fact - she said that we should always give the milk/water after the fruit/biscuit (only sweet once a week) not with the fruit as it is better for their teeth and stops the acid building up. Nikki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cat33 Posted November 19, 2003 Share Posted November 19, 2003 Sara, we have a policy clalled "Diat, policy and practise". We have listed the foods we serve over the week and share it with new parents so we can find out likes and dislikes. Parents like it and have suggested a few new snacks we have now added! We have a dedicated snack time as we see it as a learning time. We also have children who come by bus so the snack is substantial! Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 20, 2003 Share Posted November 20, 2003 Hi there I typed 'pre school healthy eating policy' into google, and lots of sites have come up. If you need to write a policy for this (like me now !!!) try www.chesterfordspreschool.org.uk/meals.htm www.uclan.ac.uk/student_services/school/policies/eating.htm hope this info. helps someone !! Janice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_79 Posted November 22, 2003 Share Posted November 22, 2003 Hi, don't know if this is relevant to anyone but my 16yr old son has migraines triggered by aspartame. I have always tried to avouid artificial sweetners so he wasn't encountering it regularly but it is a common sweetener in low-sugar drinks, especially "tooth-kind" varieties and the drinks served by our school kitchen!!(we have no control over it). He is also epileptic and his neurologist has indicated that his threshold re migraine/ epilepsy could be to blame, both are neurological condition and therefore related. Certainly since we have cut aspartame completely his migraines have disappeared and he hasn't had another seizure either!! My husband is allergic to Kiwi fruit, rare but recognised allergy that could be as dangerous as a peanut allergy. Not only is he allergic to the fruit but is also sensitive enough to have a reaction if a serving spoon or knife has been in contact with the food containing the kiwi. I don't want to be alarmist but if you're talking healthy eating, its not always clearcut! Susan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 I think the problem with allergies is you will never know if anybody is allergic to anything until they have a reaction. As long as you avoid peanuts, which is the most obvious one we are all aware of, you can only hope that children will have shown reactions before they arrive at pre-school/nursery and parents can inform you of this. We have a little boy at the moment who is allergic to eggs, again like your husband Susan even touching them can bring on a reaction. So no baking with eggs for us. I think it is probably one of the most worrying scenarios any of us could face at some point. I am allergic to citrus fruits. I can eat them occasionally but have to be careful. I also found I had a peanut allergy when I was 28!!! It really is a difficult one! Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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