CHILD CARE / PRE-SCHOOL FOOD ENVIRONMENT
ENACT Strategy: Variety
Introduce a variety of different healthy food options
The healthy eating habits formed during early childhood can carry into adulthood and decrease the risk of chronic diseases. Early childhood provides a key window for establishing healthy behaviors. Instilling healthy habits early on is easier than trying to reverse them later. Furthermore, young children are more likely than school-age children to change their behaviors if they have developed poor nutrition habits early on. The food served in preschool and childcare settings significantly contributes to children's overall nutritional intake. It is key to introduce young children to a wide variety of healthy foods, especially fresh fruits and vegetables, to develop their taste buds and affinity for different foods.
There a number of fun, interesting ways to introduce children to new foods, including:
- Holding a weekly fruit and vegetable tasting. Include a variety of different fruits and vegetables, including old favorites and exciting new options. Focus on different colors and textures to entice children to taste new foods.
- Introduce healthy foods from around the world. This can be a fun way to involve parents and other care providers and highlight the different cultures and backgrounds represented in your group. Provide those who are preparing meals with general guidelines around nutritional content.
- Read stories that feature fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods.
University of Idaho's Feeding Young Children in a Group Setting
Information on basic principles and best practices for child care providers.
University of Idaho Approach to Feeding Young Children
This is an article on childcare providers who have successfully used the approach proposed by University of Idaho’s “Feeding Young Children in Group Settings” program to get kids eating better.
Food Friends: Making New Foods Fun for Kids
This program developed by University of Colorado, “Food Friends: Making New Foods Fun for Kids,” is taught in schools and childcare centers and is based on research showing best practices for overcoming “neophobia”
Menu Planning Guides
See Contra Costa Childcare Council Sample Food Menus, CANFit's Three Week Healthy Snack Plan, and USDA's Menu Magic Planning Guide for Child Care Homes for menu item ideas that are tasty, healthy, and affordable.
Healthy Choices for Kids includes a teacher’s curriculum guide for how to encourage children to eat a variety of foods. Also included is a story called What to Eat (PDF).
Thrifty Tips for Healthy Helpings
Child care professionals and busy parents share a common challenge. How can we feed children nutritiously, in a timely, stress-free manner and without breaking the bank? Developed by the Contra Costa Child Care Council.
The Contra Costa Child Care Council
The council offers a wide variety of child care programs and services designed to support and empower parents and child care providers. The Child Care Council also educates decision makers and the general public about child care trends and issues.
Food and Nutrition Information Center
The center provides a compilation of resources for people involved in the child care profession. It includes food and nutrition education print materials, audiovisuals, and other resources for child care and classroom use. Topics covered are general nutrition, food preparation, and food safety. Teaching materials for children and adults include: food models, games, kits, videocassettes, CDs and lesson plans.
National Network for Childcare
The network's website contains nutrition and diet resources ranging from best practices, to meals and snacks and mealtime behavior.
Feeding Young Children in Group Settings
This educational project developed by the University of Idaho is designed to help you provide a nurturing feeding environment for children. The project integrates concepts from nutrition, child development, and food safety and presents information about best practices in feeding young children.
Contra Costa Child Care Council addresses the need to feed young children a variety of healthy foods.
Experiences and Exposures Shape Young Children’s Food Preferences**
This journal article discusses the scientific evidence for young children’s food acceptance patterns, including a predisposition to “neophobia” (an aversion to trying new foods), and how their exposures and experiences with different foods shape and shift their preferences. Most importantly, it shows that repeated exposures to new and healthy foods in a positive environment can overcome initial aversions to these foods.
Birch L. Development of food acceptance patterns in the first years of life. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. 1998; 57(4): 617-624.
A sensitive period for learning about food**
This anthropological study presents evidence that the first few years of live are a critical window for developing food preferences.
Cashdan E. A sensitive period for learning about food. Human Nature. 1994; 5(3): 279-291.
** We can only provide links to the article abstracts and not the full text.