The food we feed pre-school children will not only have an impact on their future health, but it will also help to determine their attitude towards food and the food choices that they make as teenagers and then as adults. Children under the age of 5 years are totally dependent on their parents, carers, childminders and nursery staff for their food. Good food is vital for good healthy development. Promoting healthy eating at nursery or at child minders will reassure parents or carers that their child's nutritional wellbeing is being taken care of during those hours. Good food and an established eating regime at nursery will have many other positive effects too. It can help little ones to settle into the nursery and assist their learning ability and aid good behaviour. Healthy food and healthy happy children go hand in hand. The most likely meals that children will need at nursery are snacks and lunch. Before we can look at the type of food that we should be feeding early years children, we need to look at their nutritional needs. Pre-school children have a high energy and nutrient requirement relative to their size. They are growing and developing rapidly so they need nutrient-dense foods like fruits, nuts, seeds, dairy foods, cereals, meat and fish. A frequent, poor energy intake can actually stunt a child's growth. Due to their small stomachs and under-developed guts, pre-school children cannot eat large quantities of food at a time. Their appetite will vary depending on their fluctuations in growth rate and their level of physical activity. The healthy eating guidelines that have been set for older children and adults are not totally suitable for small children, but they can be used as a guide to help you to work towards healthy eating as the children grow up. Children need to eat foods from all of the main food groups: Bread, other cereals and potatoes to provide carbohydrate, fibre, calcium, iron and B vitamins. It is best to choose a mixture of white and wholegrain products. Fruits and vegetables - these foods provide vitamin C, folate, potassium, fibre and important antioxidants. This includes fresh, dried, frozen, canned and juice - children need to eat a variety. Meat, fish and alternatives - these foods provide protein, iron, zinc, magnesium and vitamin B12. Children need to eat a variety of poultry, red meat, fish and oily fish, or alternatives. Omega-3 fatty acids are important for health and nervous system development. The oily fish are a particularly good source of these fats and should be offered along with white fish at least twice a week. Some examples of oily fish included sardines, trout, salmon (canned and fresh) and mackerel, and fresh tuna (but not canned tuna). Foods containing fat and foods containing sugar - these should be given infrequently and then in conjunction with a variety of other foods. Snack time Snack time does not need to be just a re-fuelling exercise, it should be a social, fun and educational time. It can be a time to talk about food and where it comes from. It is an opportunity to encourage children to try something different, even if it is just a small taste, in a relaxed environment. If possible, use snack time as an opportunity to involve a few children in the preparation of the food, washing fruit, peeling bananas or counting out pieces of bread can help a child to feel more comfortable around food. Encourage children to wash hands before they eat the snack to reinforce hygiene messages and sit reluctant fussy eaters next to friends who are enthusiastic about food. Teach by example; try to sit an adult nearby so that the children can see that their role models eat the same food as them. Finally, remember that a snack is literally that, not a big meal. The amount of food that you give them mid morning or mid afternoon should be small, so that it does not interfere with their next meal. Quick and easy snacks include Seasonal fruits - choose fruits in season so that you can talk to the children about why certain fruits are only available at certain times of the year. Slices of apple, pears, banana, kiwi fruit, strawberries, satsuma, melon, grapes or dried fruits e.g. apricots and raisins and vegetable sticks like carrots, celery or cucumber are also great. Carbohydrate based snacks that help provide some energy are also a good idea, for example scones, fruit muffins, easy fruit pancakes, toast or currant buns; time permitting you could ask the children to help make an apple cake, carrot cake or fruit tea loaf during the morning that could be eaten at snack time. Yogurts are also great as a snack or use natural yogurt mixed with cream cheese to make a quick dip for vegetable sticks. Lunchtime If parents are providing their lunches, you may like to pass on the following information about what makes a good well-balanced lunchbox. If you are providing the lunch, try to keep it balanced, check that you can tick all of the boxes. Protein - an essential nutrient for healthy growth and development. This includes meat e.g. sliced ham, cold cooked sausages, pork pies, cold left over roast meats, pate; fish e.g. tuna, sardines; eggs e.g. hard boiled eggs (mixed with a little mayonnaise); pulses e.g. lentil soup - in a flask; cheese e.g. grated cheddar cheese or cream cheese mixed with chopped dried apricots; yoghurt e.g. little pots of fruit yoghurts or plain yoghurt mixed with a little honey or pureed fruit; nuts and seeds. Carbohydrates - so important for energy, your child will get very tired and find it harder to concentrate without food that provides slow release energy. This includes bread e.g. pita bread, multi-grain rolls, sliced bread, raisin bread, muffins, tortilla wraps- always keep a selection of breads in the freezer. Try making pasta or potato salads - make enough for your lunch at the same time, add punchy dressings - children like food with flavour (after all this is why so many processed foods are popular because they are packed with flavours!!) e.g. pasta mixed with grated cheese, finely sliced cucumber and chopped ham mixed with a little vinaigrette dressing. Make a pizza for supper and then add slice to the lunchbox the next day - do the same with a tart or a quiche. Fruits and vegetables - these are essential for vitamins and minerals and disease-fighting antioxidants. Try to make sure that each lunchbox has at least one serving of fruit and one of vegetables. Little tupperware pots of fruits and vegetables are easy e.g. cherry tomatoes, cucumber sticks, carrot sticks, slices of melon, a handful of dried fruits, sliced melon, sliced apple (sprinkle over a little lemon juice if you fancy to stop it from browning) a kiwi cut in half - children love scooping out the middle with a spoon. Add pureed fruit to yoghurt or make a quick smoothie to take in a drink bottle. Calcium-rich foods - these are necessary for healthy bones and teeth. For example milk, cheese, yoghurt, calcium-enriched soya-drink, canned sardines or salmon and green leafy vegetables e.g. watercress, spinach. Try using tinned fish in sandwiches or adding to pasta, add green leaves to the tops of pizzas or to quiche fillings. A drink - always make sure you give them a drink - preferably a bottle of water (you can clean and refill small mineral water bottles each day) or milk or occasionally fruit juice. Try to get your children into the habit of drinking water as often as possible instead of relying on high sugar cordials or fruit juice. If your child becomes dehydrated he will feel tired and sluggish and possibly irritable. Milkshakes or smoothies are a great way of helping to make sure that they are eating their 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. It is so important to provide good food during the day to help keep energy levels high and to promote good behaviour. Nursery staff as well as parents and carers need to recognise their own eating habits will be the ones that the child imitates. Therefore, encourage your staff to eat the same foods as the children to help reassure them that this is the right thing and an enjoyable thing to do. A few useful tips that you pass on to parents or carers: Invest in a good quality lunchbox - preferably with a thermal cover Buy some small tupperware pots - ideal for fruits and vegetables - surprise them by decorating them with one of their favourite sticker Prepare as much as possible the night before - trying to make lunches at the same time as feeding your children a good breakfast can be quite a challenge - with an end of result of not achieving either job very well! Get baking at the weekend with your children and get them to make muffins or scones that can be frozen and just taken out of the freezer in the morning before school - they will have defrosted by lunchtime Show your children their lunches before they go off to school. If they know what to expect they are more likely to eat it. Make sure that everything is quick and easy to eat - children often want to eat their food quickly so that they can get outside to play with their friends i.e. peel fruit fro them or cut into pieces Every now and then add a pretty napkin or piece of kitchen paper to liven up the box Avoid food like crisps that are often high in fat and salt - give them a bag of plain popcorn or a few breadsticks or rice cakes instead Swap cakes and biscuits that are high in fat and sugar (and only provide short-lived energy) for scones, currant buns and fruit breads. Give them homemade flapjacks or muffins or cakes as a treat - and get them to help make them! Add handfuls of chopped apricots or raisins to flapjack mixtures Recipes: Scones are such a great food to make with small children as it teaches them how to rub butter into flour, how to roll and how to cut out shapes. They are ideal for a quick snack with a little fresh jam or honey on top or for lunch with a piece of cheese, fruit and a yogurt. Makes: 8 small knob butter for greasing 225g self-raising flour, plus a little extra for kneading 1 level tsp baking powder 40g butter, cut into cubes and chilled 11/2 tablespoons golden caster sugar pinch of salt 150ml milk, plus a little extra Equipment: Baking sheet Sieve Large bowl Knife Round cutter - approx 2 ½ inches Pastry brush Oven gloves Wire rack Other good things to add to scones: 50 g dried fruit e.g. raisins, currants or sultanas or chopped dried apricot - just stir it in when you add the sugar. Try also adding a pinch of mixed spice or cinnamon. For cheesy scones leave out the sugar and stir in 50 g grated cheddar cheese. You could also add some chopped fresh herbs and crispy cooked chopped bacon Turn the oven on to 220C/425F/Gas mark 7. Rub a baking sheet with a little butter. Sieve the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Rub in the butter using your fingertips - when it is done the mixture should look like fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and salt. Use an ordinary knife to mix in the milk, a little at a time, until the mixture starts to come together. Sprinkle a little flour on to your work-surface then tip the dough out of the bowl. Put a little flour on your hands and very lightly knead the mixture for half a minute until it is smooth. Form the mixture into a ball and use your hands to lightly pat it out to about 3 cm thick. Dip a round cutter into a little flour and cut out scones from the dough. Put the scones onto the baking tray, spaced a little apart. Gather all the spare bits of dough together and roll together to make a ball and flatten it out. Cut out the rest of the scones - you should be able to make 8. Brush the tops of the scones with a little milk. Using your oven gloves put the scones into the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes until risen and golden. Then use your oven gloves to remove the tray from the oven. Cool the scones on a wire rack then enjoy. Amanda is a broadcaster, food writer and mother of three young children. Amanda recently fronted the Back to School series on GMTV and speaks frequently on radio. She has written several books, most recently specialising in baby and toddler nutrition. Her books, published by Mitchell Beazley, include Healthy Eating for Pregnancy; Healthy Baby and Toddler Foods, Baby Healthy Eating Planner and Toddler Healthy Eating Planner. Amanda's book, Kids' Kitchen teaches children how to cook and where food comes from. She writes for a variety of national magazines and newspapers and has a fortnightly column in the Guardian.
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