There are a number of reasons why children may require a specific diet. Food allergies: A food allergy is where children can react badly to certain foods. There are different kinds of reactions like: a light swelling of the skin, a rash or something more serious like being unable to breath and it could even lead to death. If a child is having an allergic reaction, it is important that you should seek help straight away. To prevent a child from having a allergic reaction, it is important that you should consider excluding the foods from the child’s diet or even exclude the food from the setting. Examples of food allergies are: nuts, eggs, milk and shellfish.

Religious and cultural reasons:

Some families exclude certain foods from their diets. Families who practice Hinduism do not eat any foods that contain beef as they believe the cow is a sacred animal. Judaism and Islam are also religions that exclude certain foods from their diet. For example, they exclude pork as it is considered to be a unclean meant. Both religions have a certain requirement of how the animal is killed and prepared for food. For Jewish people, their requirement is known as kosher, for Muslims, their requirement is known as halal. Some children’s families do not follow a religion but will still eat food that is prepared in a special way. This could be based on religious teachings.

Ethical reasons or personal preferences:

There are some families that have ethical and personal preferences for their children’s diet. For example, they may be vegetarian or vegan. A vegetarian is where they exclude meat from their diet (however fish is sometimes the exception). Vegetarians will still eat products that come from animals like: milk, eggs or cheese. A vegan is where they do not eat any foods that come from an animal. Other ethical or personal reasons are families that only want organic food “has been grown free of chemicals or fertilisers”. 

Medical conditions:

Some children have specific dietary requirements due to them having medical conditions. Examples of medical conditions are: diabetes and coeliac disease. Diabetes is where the body is not producing sufficient insulin. A diabetic child’s diet has to be carefully balanced; including what, when and how much they eat. This means it is important that if working in an early years setting, you need to communicate with the parents to make sure that you meet the child’s needs properly. Coeliac disease is where a child is unable to digest any foods that contain gluten. This means that bread and pasta must be excluded from the diet, unless it contains gluten free flour.

 

Food intolerances:

Some children are intolerant to certain foods. This means if they eat the foods, they are more likely to suffer from a range of illnesses like vomiting and diarrhoea, which depends on how much they’ve eaten. These are like food allergies but are not life threatening. These food intolerances include lactose-intolerant and wheat intolerant. Milk and other dairy products contain lactose, so children are not able to eat them. Depending on how bad the food intolerance is, the food should be excluded from the child’s diet or given in occasional amounts. 

 

There are a number of ways in which practitioners can help to encourage children to make healthier food choices.

Being a positive role model:

Children get their food habits and attitudes towards food from the adults around them. Children usually tend to copy adults, especially those closest to them. This means that it is important to be a positive role model and to help children have an interest in food. Sitting and eating with children will help them learn how to take their time with void to prevent them overeating. Eating fruit and vegetables in front of children will encourage them to try out these foods themselves. It is also important that whatever foods you bring into the setting, that it is healthy and balanced.

Making mealtimes and snack times positive:

To make sure children will develop healthy food habits and preferences, it is important that we make sure they enjoy food at mealtimes and  snack times. To do this we should provide children with plenty of time to eat so that they do not feel rushed. Encouraging the children to talk and spend time with each other is important as it makes meal and snack times a more positive and enjoyable experience.

Getting children involved in preparing food for their snack time.

Having snacks is a part of a child’s balanced diet. Snacks are important for children to have as they have small stomachs so they need to be fed more than three meals a day. Snacks need to be nutritious as the children are growing and developing. Involving children in preparing snacks is important as it promotes a positive experience during snack times. Foods that are good as healthy snacks can be: fruit and vegetable sticks, small portions of dairy products like yoghurt or cheese, biscuits or rice cakes.

 

Encourage children to try new foods:

It is important that children have a wide range of foods in their diet to make sure it is balanced and that it contains all of the nutrients as they are found in different foods. It is also important that even though a child might not like a certain food, if encouraging a child to keep trying it over time, then they might start to enjoy the food. Children are also more likely to try out new foods with different colours and tastes as it is appealing to them.   

Making food look attractive:

As children tend to be fussy over food at a young age, it is a good idea that we as practitioners should present it in a more attractive way. For example, we could make food faces on a plate or put vegetables slices on a plate to make a pattern. This will make children more interested in trying foods and in meal and snack times.

Providing easy to manage portions:

Children’s food portions need to be putting too much on their plates might put them off eating it. Children are more likely to eat better with having smaller portions with a range of different colours and textures.

Letting children independently decide on amounts:

It is a good idea to put out small portions of different ranges of food so that the children can decide for themselves on how much they want. This way children will be more aware of how full they are and prevent them from overeating their independence will also boost their confidence.

Encourage children to feed themselves:

Children learning how to feed themselves is part of healthy eating. To help them with this, we could provide them with cutlery, colourful and attractive cups and plates for the children, and beakers and feeding cups for the babies.

Cooking activities with children:

From taking part in cooking, children can get to know more about food and new flavours and textures. Good examples of cooking healthy foods with children are:  fruit salads, pizzas, tortilla wraps, sandwiches and fruit smoothies.

 

 

 

 

The case study: The Mulberry Bush Day Nursery is looking at how they get children involved in food preparation in the setting. Once a month, children have the chance to do a ‘healthy cooking activity’, such as making fruit salads, sandwiches or soup. The setting has some children with specific dietary needs including allergies, religious reasons and ethical reasons. To make sure that no mistakes are made, a photo of each child and their needs is put on the wall.

It is good that the adults are getting children involved in a cooking activity as children love to cook and learn a lot of practical skills as well trying out new flavours and textures. Cooking is also an enjoyable activity and if children are enjoying cooking healthy foods, they are more likely to maintain eating it. However, these kinds of activities should be carried out so that children will get more used to preparing healthy foods and learn more about them. The adults should also provide more ways to encourage healthier food choices. For example they could present food in attractive way like make the food into a face on the plate or encourage children to decide on their own amounts by putting out small portions of food on a plate for to choice. This will make them more aware of their feelings of fullness and prevent overeating. It is good that they have pictures of each child to make sure that no mistakes are made as it is a reminder of the child’s individual needs to make sure they do not forget them.

 

The Mulberry Bush Day Nursery is looking at how they get children involved in food preparation in the setting. Once a month, children have the chance to do a ‘healthy cooking activity’, such as making fruit salads, sandwiches or soup. The setting has some children with specific dietary needs including allergies, religious reasons and ethical reasons. To make sure that no mistakes are made, a photo of each child and their needs is put on the wall. 

Parents are also asked about their child’s needs when they join the setting. A new child has started the setting (Kamal) and his parents have told the nursery that he must not be given any dairy products as this triggers his Eczema. They have provided the nursery with alternative soya products such as milk, yoghurt and ice-cream. Today, there is a student on work placement and he has been asked to help serve the children their lunch and pudding. The children are having yoghurt and there has been a separate bowl put out for Kamal in the kitchen. The student cannot be bothered to go and get it so he gives Kamal the same yoghurt as everybody else. The next day, Kamal’s parents phone the nursery to explain that Kamal’s Eczema has flared up in the night and ask whether the nursery gave them anything with dairy in. the manager says she will check who was involved in serving meals and snacks yesterday.

 

It is good that they have pictures of each child so they can remember each dietary need and make sure that the children’s needs are met. It is good that the adults ask the children’s parents about their needs as they are making so that they have what they need to provide the children with and that the children are not in any danger. It is good that the adults are giving Kamal dairy alternatives so that he doesn’t miss out on what the other children have.

The student may not know about Kamal’s dietary need. It is important that all staff must know about each child’s dietary needs. It is also important consider getting someone more professional when dealing with food so that no risky mistakes are made.  I think Kamal’s separate bowl should be put with the other children’s to ensure he’s gets the right food for his needs.

 

Parents are also asked about their child’s needs when they join the setting. A new child has started the setting (Kamal) and his parents have told the nursery that he must not be given any dairy products as this triggers his Eczema. They have provided the nursery with alternative soya products such as milk, yoghurt and ice-cream. Today, there is a student on work placement and he has been asked to help serve the children their lunch and pudding. The children are having yoghurt and there has been a separate bowl put out for Kamal in the kitchen. The student cannot be bothered to go and get it so he gives Kamal the same yoghurt as everybody else. The next day, Kamal’s parents phone the nursery to explain that Kamal’s Eczema has flared up in the night and ask whether the nursery gave them anything with dairy in. the manager says she will check who was involved in serving meals and snacks yesterday.

 

 At the moment the systems in place that they have are not effectively supporting the children’s dietary needs.

 

It is good that they have pictures of each child so they can remember each dietary need and make sure that the children’s needs are met. It is good that the adults ask the children’s parents about their needs as they are making so that they have what they need to provide the children with and that the children are not in any danger. It is good that the adults are giving Kamal dairy alternatives so that he doesn’t miss out on what the other children have.

 

The student may not know about Kamal’s dietary need. It is important that all staff must know about each child’s dietary needs. It is also important consider getting someone more professional when dealing with food so that no risky mistakes are made.  I think Kamal’s separate bowl should be put away from the other children’s bowls to ensure he’s gets the right food for his needs. They should have also explained to the student about how important it is to make sure that Kamal has the diary free product in order to avoid any intolerance. They should also make sure the student has proper training about food allergies/ intolerance and any food alternatives so that the student will know how to deal with this properly in the future. Training should also be for all new practitioners that have little knowledge of this subject. The practitioners should have a record system. How they would do this is that if a child has an intolerance or allergy to something that they write down everything they’ve eaten that day. By doing this it will enable the adults to support the children more effectively.

 

It is good that the adults are getting children involved in a cooking activity as children love to cook and learn a lot of practical skills as well trying out new flavours and textures. Cooking is also an enjoyable activity and if children are enjoying cooking healthy foods, they are more likely to maintain eating it. However, these kinds of activities should be carried out so that children will get more used to preparing healthy foods and learn more about them. The adults should also provide more ways to encourage healthier food choices. For example they could present food in attractive way like make the food into a face on the plate or encourage children to decide on their own amounts by putting out small portions of food on a plate for to choice. This will make them more aware of their feelings of fullness and prevent overeating. It is good that they have pictures of each child to make sure that no mistakes are made as it is a reminder of the child’s individual needs to make sure they do not forget them. It is good that the adults are getting the children involved in a cooking activity as it will make them more independent in preparing their own food and it will also teach them life skills. The adults should also explain which food alternatives the children must have in order for the other practitioners to know so that no mistakes are made. Instead of once a month, the adults should provide this activity more often like once or twice a week so that they know more about why it is important that we eat healthy foods, that they will be more interested in eating healthy food and that they will find preparing and cooking food more interesting. The practitioners should make sure that children have more knowledge about allergies, religious and ethical reason by providing them with activities like trying out different food alternatives or explaining the allergies and ethical and religious reasons with pictures or big words the children will easily understand. The adults should also give more meal ideas for the children to cook so they have more of a bigger range of healthy foods to choose from. For example they could make pasta salads, salads, jacket potato with a filling, etc.