can any one help think read too many books feel very confused with this
cultural and religious varations and dietry practices
i under stand a jewish person will not eat pork thanks ann

I would think you'd need to look at kosher [jewish] and halal [moslem] dietary requirements at least. Also I think Hindus don't eat any cow products because it's sacred, many are vegetarians. Can't remember off the top of my head but I think there are dietary codes for some Rastafarians - some would be vegetarian & maybe even vegan? Does that give you enough for a kickstart?

I worry with this because there are some stereotypical views on what certain cultures do or do not do, eat or do not eat. As our communities become more multi-cultural these presumptions become less true to life.

I have a family from India who one may presume are muslim and therefore do not eat certain meats etc. On asking the parents the family are all christian and do not have any specific dietary practices different to what we offer.

The most important thing is to be aware there are cultural practices within all sectors of the community, Black, White, Asian etc. We do not know the answers though unless we ask THE PARENTS.
Within each culture the people are individuals with various cultural/individual preferences. If we "list" some of these preferences and omit others ( as it is impossible to know them all) then the ones we miss will mean we could be being exclusive. To be inclusive we should be asking every single parent what there families preferences are irrespective of race or culture.


Peggy

Hi Peggy,

You make an excellent point, which should be part of everyone's practice. However in this instance, ann is having to show her awareness of varied cultural and religious variations and dietary practices for the purposes of the award, so generalisations like this can be forgiven, for once, I think .

Ann, you might also consider practices as well as diet - for instance, circumcision, special clothing. And I would include Peggy's point somewhere in there, probably in the non-stereotypical bit of the KUS!

Sue

I agree with you Sue R, It is the awarding bodies who need to rethink their requirements and rewrite their criteria. Maybe, on hindsight, I wasn't particularly helpful to Ann in this instant but I hope there is a section where she can include the importance of parental partnership.


Peggy

thank you very much all of you for the excellent feed back i have not started my placement yet but my nvq tutor has given me the assignment because i am keen to get on the right tracks before starting my place ment with your support i have received I now feel more confident as she did say was alot of written work this caused me to panic with your feed back i now know i am on right tracks will have no more problems understanding what is expected of me regarding various cultures thanks again you have helped me reach this level

The thing with the award is to show that you have a basic knowledge of these things Peggy. Of course we all know that in practice these things vary from person to person. I don't see how else the qualification could be arranged really - there are so many variables in childcare but I guess you have to start somewhere!!