Why subscribe to the Nutrition in OSHC program?

Why subscribe to the Nutrition in OSHC program?

As educators and specialists in the industry you play an invaluable role to our children’s futures. Health and nutrition play an integral part of every child’s life.  Ensuring children have access to nutritious and safely prepared meals will improve their overall health, behaviour and learning outcomes.

As an OSHC subscriber, you not only benefit the children in your care, you can also benefit your setting as a whole including your local community through the following:

ADVOCACY – We are a proactive voice with connections with government, non-government, private enterprise and media outlets.

PD AND TRAINING – Our team of experienced Dietitians, Nutritionists and Health Promotion officers with experience in the early years industry provide tailored professional development and training.

RESOURCES AND COMPLIANCE – Our range of expertly designed resources will assist you to meet your compliance requirement and strive for best practice.

INDUSTRY UPDATES – Let us keep you up to date on the latest research and requirements around nutrition and food safety.

Being a subscriber will enable you to stay informed on of the latest requirements in best practice, research and policy around food and nutrition.

Most importantly, as a subscriber, you are supporting Nutrition Australia Qld, a charity that has been operating for over 25 years, being the voice of health and nutrition for Queensland children.

 

Why Subscribe to Food Foundations?

As educators and specialists in the early years industry you play an invaluable role to our children’s futures. Health and nutrition play an integral part of every child’s life.  Ensuring children have access to nutritious and safely prepared meals will improve their overall health, behaviour and learning outcomes.

As a Food Foundations subscriber, you not only benefit the children in your care, you can also benefit your setting as a whole including your local community through the following:

ADVOCACY – We are a proactive voice with connections with government, non-government, private enterprise and media outlets.

PD AND TRAINING – Our team of experienced Dietitians, Nutritionists and Health Promotion officers with experience in the early years industry provide tailored professional development and training.

RESOURCES AND COMPLIANCE – Our range of expertly designed resources will assist you to meet your compliance requirement and strive for best practice.

INDUSTRY UPDATES – Let us keep you up to date on the latest research and requirements around nutrition and food safety.

Being a subscriber will enable you to stay informed on of the latest requirements in best practice, research and policy around food and nutrition.

Most importantly, as a subscriber, you are supporting Nutrition Australia Qld, a charity that has been operating for over 25 years, being the voice of health and nutrition for Queensland children.

 

Bread and cereal alternatives for sandwiches in lunchboxes

The humble sandwich is such an easy lunchbox staple, but there are many other alternatives if you want to change it up or if your children are not eating their sandwiches.  The main thing to remember with any lunchbox, is that it is all about balance and a variety of the food groups.  It is easy to replace a sandwich; you just have to replace what food groups the sandwich includes.

For example, if you want to replace a meat and cheese sandwich, some alternatives which include the same food groupcould be:

  1. Cheese cubes, 1 piece of fruit bread and a boiled egg
  2. Plain natural yoghurt, crackers with vegemite and some cold cooked chicken
  3. Baked beans, dry cereal (eg Cheerios) and cheese cubes

Listed below are some alternatives to break from the bread and cereal food group.  Often with children, the ‘platter’ type finger food lunchboxes can work really well.

  • Pita/ pocket bread
  • Lavash bread or wraps
  • Fruit bread/raisin toast/fruit bun
  • Bagels
  • Rice- eg. cold leftover fried rice
  • Cous cous or quinoa – e.g. cold leftover cous cous salad
  • Pizza – made on pita/Lebanese bread or English muffins
  • Pasta – cold cooked plain or with a sauce
  • Noodles – cold cooked plain or with a sauce
  • Muffins – any variety with low sugar
  • Crumpets
  • Crackers/crispbreads/corn thins
  • Breakfast cereals
  • Pikelets- plain, savoury or with fruit such as berries
  • Scones- plain, pumpkin, savoury or fruit
  • Rice cakes with vegemite, avocado, sliced banana or cheese & tomato
  • Sushi
  • Sandwich sushi
  • Finger food platter – and include rice crackers or bread sticks

Exceeding Themes Case Study

Exceeding Themes Case Study – Avenues Cannon Hill

Our Nutrition Services Manager, Nicole, took some time out recently to have a chat with ‘Chef Bec’  from Avenues Cannon Hill (a service with the exceeding rating).

Avenues Cannon Hill conducts critical reflection as regular practice and has formed strong and meaningful relationships with families including open and honest conversations around nutrition and food provision.   Healthy eating practices are embedded into service operations, with Bec sharing some of her thoughts on how this looks in everyday practice:

  • A menu suggestions book is always at the sign in desk for families to provide input, and Bec provides recipes to families when requested.
  • Bec always prepares extra of the morning or afternoon snack (whichever is appropriate) and provides it on a platter for families to try at the sign in desk. This sits alongside a fruit bowl for families.
  • Bec and Trish (Centre Director)  regularly conduct critical analysis of the menu items and their success with the Educators and families. Bec changes the menu as needed based on reflective practice.
  • Bec interacts with the children in the rooms. One of her daily goals is to go into one of the rooms at a meal time to talk to the children and interact with them around the food being provided. This allows the children to give Bec feedback first hand. And we all know how honest children can be!
  • Bec regularly asks children and families what their favourite meals are. The centre believes that a very important part of providing healthy/yummy meals is to ask parents and children what their favourite meals are. They value the input from all different stakeholders. The centre  also asks for input of recipes from families, including cultural meals which she may then prepare in the setting or have the family come into the setting to assist preparing the meal. This practice also includes educators participating in learning experiences in the rooms. Children are exposed to all different meals from different cultures. Different cultural events like Australia Day and Chinese New Year has been celebrated for all the children to enjoy.
  • Bec works with the kindergarten room in term 4 to assist with ‘lunchbox’ type meals for those children around school readiness.
  • Bec frequently talks to colleagues about items on the menu and conducts critical reflection on food provision. As well as monthly audits on practices within the kitchen.

We asked questions around introducing new meals into the menu with Bec identifying that these are usually welcomed by children and staff.  Upon reflection, during our conversation we identified that this ease of transition can be attributed to a high level of trust between Bec, the children and the educators.

Other practices that are embedded into the program at Avenues Cannon Hill around nutrition include positive meal time practices,  learning experience opportunities with children around food, for example home corner, a vegetable garden, cooking experiences, which the setting documents.  The setting regularly seeks feedback and ideas from families and also has strong links with the community and local professionals around health and nutrition.

Congratulations to the team at Avenues Cannon Hill for successfully embedding critical reflection and meaningful engagement across many quality areas including Quality Area 2. Keep up the great work!

Critical reflection – Meal and snack service times

 

As per the Get up and Grow Guidelines “children have small stomachs, and their energy and nutrient requirements are best met through small and frequent nutritious meals and snacks”.  In practice, ideally children should be offered a meal or snack every 2-3 hours.

What times does your setting serve meals and snacks?

You may notice, that if there are larger gaps in service times, children’s behaviour and concentration may be affected as they are hungry. Alternatively, if meals and snacks are served too close together the children may not eat as much as they are simply not hungry.

 

Talk with your colleagues about the following reflection questions:

  1. Why do we serve lunch at the time we do?
    1. Do the children eat ‘well’ at these times?
    2. Do the meal times suit the cook/chef, daily routine and staffing?
    3. Are the meal times reflective of a child’s ‘usual’ meal times time when they are not in care?
  2. Are there differences in children’s group behaviour throughout the day – is this reflective of meal service times?
  3. Are there even gaps between the meal service times?
  4. How can we make meal and snack times more efficient? Do we need to make them more efficient?

Learning experiences when using an external caterer

When using an external caterer, are you aware of the learning experiences you could be including for the children in your care that encompass this style of food provision?

 

There are many learning experiences in discussing how food is made offsite and transferred/delivered to your setting.  These include food preparation, using external kitchens and chefs cook and food safety (i.e. food transportation, reheating, storage).

 

The life cycle of how the food reaches your setting includes:

 

  1. Food made offsite
  2. Food transported in a truck/vehicle
  3. Food delivered to your setting. Staff member accepts the delivery, stores food, prepares food, serves food. You could discuss when the food is delivered (i.e. weekly)
  4. Food reheated / prepared for the children – who does this, how long does it take
  5. Food served and consumed in the rooms

 

 

You may wish to conduct critical reflections in your setting that discuss the 5 points above. Are you discussing them and using them as learning experiences with the children? This is a unique style of food provision and many opportunities are available to incorporate new learnings for the children.

Meal times around the world

Meal time traditions and routines can vary around the world. Below we have listed a few meal time routines that you may be able to incorporate into learning experiences and meal times at your early years setting.

 

Morocco

These meals can be served on low tables surrounded by comfy cushions. Mealtimes with family and extended family play an important part of daily life

 

India

It is an Indian custom to eat with your right hand. Remember to wash your hands first!

 

European Countries

In these countries salads may be served after, rather than before, the main dish

 

South Korea

It is a sign of respect and an important custom for everyone to wait to eat until the oldest person/people lifts their utensil (i.e. chopstick or spoon) before everyone starts eating.

 

Japan

Dishes usually come in their own utensil – they don’t mix their foods together on one plate. Chopsticks are commonly used.

 

How to eat with Chopsticks:

  • Hold your chopsticks towards their end, and not in the middle or the front third.
  • When you are not using your chopsticks and when you are finished eating, lay them down in front of you with the tip to left
  • Do not pass food with your chopsticks directly to somebody else’s chopsticks
  • Do not move your chopsticks around in the air too much, nor play with them.
  • Do not move around plates or bowls with chopsticks

To separate a piece of food into two pieces, exert controlled pressure on the chopsticks while moving them apart from each other

 

Meal time conversation starters for early years settings

Conversations with children at meal times are an important factor to the enjoyment of a meal time and also to encourage children to try new foods. Below we have listed some conversation starters if you need new inspiration on what to talk to the children about

  • Tell me the colours of food you see on the plate
  • How many different foods are on your plate?
  • What food do you want to eat first? Second? Or third?
  • Do you have a favourite food on your plate that you would like to eat more of? Why?
  • What country do you think the meal we are eating comes from?
  • How do you think food gives you superhero strength?
  • If you could only eat one fruit/vegetable forever – what would it be?
  • What is your most favourite food you have while at childcare?
  • What new foods would you like to try?
  • What is your favourite part about mealtimes?
  • If you could be a vegetable, what would it be and why?
  • If you could be a fruit, what would it be and why?

Thermometer Calibration

Both probe and infrared laser thermometers must be calibrated to ensure they are giving a correct reading.

Calibration is a comparison between a known measurement (the standard) and the measurement using your instrument (in this case a probe thermometer).

There are 2 ways to calibrate your thermometers:

  1. Ice Point Method
  2. Boiling Point Method

Ice Point Method

  • Fill a large cup or small container with crushed ice, then add clean fresh water to a depth of at least 10 cm – make a slurry of half ice, half water.
  • Stir ice and water, wait 2 minutes – allowing water and ice to cool and mix.
  • Suspend the stem of the probe thermometer into the ice slurry or shoot infrared thermometer into the ice slurry.  Note: Avoid probe touching sides of bottom of cup or container.
  • Wait 2 minutes until the indicator stops changing.
  • The temperature reading must be 0°C +/-1 (so anything between -1°C and +1°C is fine).
  • If your thermometer is not in this range then your thermometer is not accurately reading the temperatures on the cold end of the scale and will need to be replaced or re-calibrated (if your thermometer is adjustable).

Boiling Point Method

  • Bring a medium saucepan of fresh water to a rolling boil on the stove.
  • Immerse the stem of the probe thermometer into the boiling water or shoot infrared thermometer into the boiling water.
  • Wait 1 minute, read temperature on thermometer while still immersed in boiling water.
  • The temperature reading must be 100°C +/-1 (so anything between 99°C and 101°C is fine).
  • If your thermometer is not in this range then your thermometer is not accurately reading the temperatures on the hot end of the scale and will need to be replaced or re-calibrated (if your thermometer is adjustable).

Food Recalls

A food recall is action taken by a food business to remove unsafe food from distribution, sale and consumption. You would have noticed in the media that there have been a number of food recalls lately. Some you may recall include:

  • Frozen berries
  • Strawberries
  • Rockmelon
  • Frozen mixed vegetables

These are just some of the big ones that have received media attention but there are a lot more that occur almost every few days.

 

How can you stay informed?

Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) website: http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/industry/foodrecalls/Pages/default.aspx . Like the NSW Food Authority, you can also sign up to receive updates by subscribing to their email list http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx (scroll to the bottom of the page to ‘subscription service’).

Another good place to look is the the  NSW Food Authority lists all Australian food recalls and sends out email alerts. Visit their website here http://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/news?t=3&y=2019& to view current recalls and sign up to their email alert service.

 

 

Meeting nutritional requirements when using external caterers

Meeting Nutritional requirements in early years settings can be challenging.

For those settings who use an external caterer, it is sometimes easy to put the onus on the caterer to ensure nutritional requirements are met.  However it is important for settings to be aware of how the food they are purchasing is meeting the nutritional guidelines.

It is ideal if menus provided meet the current guidelines for children (being 50% of their daily requirements are met in care as seen in the table below).

Daily number of serves required in care

Food Group Serves required in care 50%*
Vegetables and Legumes 1 – 2 ½
Fruit ¼ – 1
Grain (Cereal) Foods 2
Lean Meat and Alternatives ½ – 1
Milk, Yoghurt, Cheese and/or alternatives ½ – 1

* 50% of daily nutritional requirements should be provided in care from morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea.

 

If how the menu meets nutritional requirements it is not available to you, ask for evidence how the meals meet nutritional guidelines.  This might come in the form of some sample days of how the recipes of all foods offered meet requirements.

Displaying Menus when using an External Caterer

Displaying Menus when using external caterers

It is best practice when you have your menu on display to showcase what is in the meal. For example, if it is spaghetti bolognaise, list some of the other main ingredients in the meal.  The menu might look like the following:

Spaghetti Bolognaise

  • Beef mince
  • Onion
  • Carrot
  • Zucchini
  • Tomatoes
  • Red Lentils

 

Is this information available to you from your caterer?  

Could you ask for more information on ingredients to make available to families and staff?

This is valuable not only to educators (as they will be encouraging the children to eat the food at mealtimes), the information is great for parents to see, so they know what their children are eating in care.  It is very common to hear that children will eat food in care that they won’t eat at home, therefore displaying the ingredients on the menu will allow parents to be able to try to ‘replicate’ the meal at home if they wish.

 

Reducing our kids food waste

Reducing our kids food waste

In Australia, for every five bags of groceries we purchase, one will end up in the bin. Food waste often heads to landfill, and can be detrimental for the environment as well as our wallets!

When it comes to feeding our children, one of the biggest frustrations is when food that has been so thoughtfully prepared doesn’t make it into their mouths, but ends up in the bin. There can be numerous reasons for this – they aren’t hungry, they have a tendency to picky eating, or they just don’t like the food that week.

It is essential that we never force children to eat food, as they need to learn to listen to when their tummies are telling them they are ‘full’. We also don’t want to stop exposing them to a variety of foods for fear that the food will only be wasted when they do not eat it.

So what can we do? Here are some handy tips to reduce food waste with your kids.

  1. Save leftovers
    Put leftovers in a container and refrigerate or freeze for another meal. Even if it is a half eaten meal, put it in the fridge in case your child is hungry later.
  2. Freeze and reuse
    Do you have a piece of fruit that has only been half eaten? Chop up the rest to add to a smoothie or to muffins. Leftover vegetables from a meal? Save them and use in a frittata. They can easily be frozen to use later.
  3. Get your kids involved
    When planning meals for the week, get your children involved in deciding which meals to have. Get them involved in the cooking process as well, and when it comes to serving a meal, encourage your children to serve themselves whenever practical. This will increase their confidence, make them more comfortable with a variety of foods and increase the likelihood of them eating the food.
  4. Avoid pre-dinner snacking
    Excess snacks or high-energy drinks just before dinner will reduce your childs appetite and the amount of nourishing food they will be able to eat at dinnertime. If they are hungry and need to snack before dinner, make sure it is from a food group that would be served at the main meal.
  5. Audit your fridge
    Do an audit of your fridge at the end of each week to make sure you use up any leftovers that may be hiding at the back.
  6. Compost, start a worm farm, or get some chickens!
    At times you won’t be able to avoid food waste. Why not look into starting a compost bin, worm farm or get some chickens? These can be handy solutions to avoid food waste going to landfill, and a fun activity for your children to be involved in.

For more ideas on avoiding food waste visit the Love Food Hate Waste website

 

 

 

Meal and snack ideas for early years settings – lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds and legumes

We recently surveyed early years cooks to ask them what their most popular meal and options from the lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds and legumes food group are.  See below for the top responses.

Meal ideas:
Tuna pasta
Quiche
Chilli con carne with lentils *
Shepherds pie *
Fish pie
Meatloaf
Lasagne *
Lentil curry
Meat/fish tacos
Meatballs
Tofu stir-fry
Casserole
4 bean casserole
Butter chicken
Tuna mornay
Pasta bolognaise with lentils *
Lentil soup
Roast lamb/beef/chicken
Baked fish
Tex Mex
Homemade fish fingers
Vegetable & egg fried rice *
San Choy Bau
Baked bean nachos
Sandwich with meat paste spreads (made from scratch)

Snack ideas:
Tuna/salmon patties *
Boiled eggs
Trail mix
Frittata *
Scotch eggs

*indicates popular menu item

Grain meal and snack ideas for early years settings

Need new inspiration on how to include more grains into the menu in your early years setting?

We surveyed cooks and chefs from across the country and below are some of the ideas they came up with

Main meal ideas:

  • Fried rice *
  • Pita bread pizza
  • Wholemeal/wholegrain sandwiches *
  • Pasta salad/rice salad
  • Cous Cous
  • Wholemeal salad wraps *
  • Brown Rice *
  • Quinoa
  • Toasted sandwiches
  • Chicken and hokkein noodles
  • Healthy nachos with mountain bread/tortillas/lebanese bread

 

Snack ideas:

  • Pizza scrolls *
  • Pizza muffins
  • Rice cakes/rice crackers*
  • Muesli slice
  • Corn cakes
  • Vita weats/cruskits/ryvita/crispbreads/wholemeal or grainy crackers *
  • Weetbix slice *
  • Apricot oat slice
  • Oat cookies
  • Home made muesli bars *
  • Raisin toast

*indicates popular menu item

In the kitchen – Get your grains

Good quality grain foods are a fantastic source of fibre, low GI carbohydrate and B group vitamins for children.  The Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend that children have 4 serves of grains a day (2 serves while in care).

Grain foods such as wholemeal bread, pasta, rice, cous cous, oats, weet-bix and wholemeal crackers are valuable healthy additions to centre menus.

One serve of grains is equivalent to:

  • 1 slice bread

Or

  • ½ cup cooked pasta (35g dry pasta)

Or

  • ½ cup cooked rice (35g dry rice)

Or

  • 30g oats

Or

  • 30g weet-bix (2)

Or

  • 3 wholemeal crackers/ crispbreads

 

The Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend that children have 4 serves of grains a day (2 serves while in care per child).  A whole sandwich with 2 slices of bread, provides 2 serves of grains.  Look over your menu.  Do you provide 2 serves a day?

Beware grapes – the overlooked choking hazard

Fresh fruit and vegetable platters are popular healthy snack options in early years settings.  But care is required ensure that children are not inadvertently exposed to choking hazards.

Grapes and cherry tomatoes

Whole grapes and cherry tomatoes are choking hazards for young children under the age of 3 years.  The shape and size of grapes means they are easily lodged in children’s airways and are difficult to remove with recommended first aid manoeuvres.  If grapes or cherry tomatoes are to be included on platters for the under 3 age groups, they should be cut in half.

 

Hard foods for babies

Babies should be introduced to solids at around 6 months and should progress through increasingly lumpier foods to be having soft finger foods by 11 months.  Hard items such as raw carrot and apple can be choking hazards for babies (and some toddlers) who are still learning to chew.  Hard uncooked fruits and vegetables should not be given to babies.  Vegetable platters are a great option for snacks.  Consider steamed vegetable sticks such as steamed beans and steamed carrot sticks for vegetable platters in your babies room.

 

To further reduce the risk of choking it is important that children are supervised at all times while eating and children sit while they are eating.

Vegetable meal and snack ideas for early years settings

Need new inspiration on how to include more vegetables into the menu in your early years setting?

We surveyed cooks and chefs from across the country and below are some of the ideas they came up with

Main meal ideas:

  • Vegetable kebabs *
  • Baked beans on toast *
  • Vegetable frittata *
  • Vegetable stir-fry *
  • Vegetable soup
  • Pumpkin soup
  • Chickpea & vegetable curry
  • Boston bean bake *
  • Chilli con carne *
  • Lentil/4 bean bolognaise
  • Minestrone
  • Ratatouille
  • Steamed vegetables
  • Chicken and lentil hotpot
  • Beef chowmein
  • Fish and spinach pie
  • Mexican tacos (with beans and salad)
  • Sweet potato and chickpea curry
  • Pumpkin pasta bake

Snack ideas:

  • Zucchini slice *
  • Vegetable/savoury platter *
  • Small corn cobs
  • Vegetable fritters
  • Corn fritters *
  • Vegetable slice
  • Carrot & celery sticks *
  • Avocado dip
  • Zucchini & sweet potato slice
  • Zucchini and sweetcorn muffin

*indicates popular menu item

Mealtimes with children

Mealtimes with children provide the perfect opportunity for positive discussions around food and can help to develop healthy habits that last a lifetime.

When having discussions with children around food, always talk about what is important to the child at the current time – that way it is relevant to them. Keep it fun, informal and appropriate to the child’s age. You don’t have to be 100% accurate, as long as there is a loose connection and it is important to the child now – then it’s a great way to promote healthy eating. For example:

When children are eating: bread, rice, cereal, pasta or noodles, you could talk about how these foods help to make them:

  • Run fast
  • Do puzzles
  • Climb trees

When children are eating: fruit and vegetables you could talk about how these foods help to make them:

  • Grow long hair
  • See in the dark
  • Fight off nasty colds and the flu

When children are eating: meat, fish, poultry, eggs  you could talk about how these foods help to make them:

  • Grow tall
  • Jump high
  • Have strong muscles

When children are eating: cheese, yoghurt, custard and milk you could talk about how these foods help to make them have:

  • Strong bones
  • Strong white teeth
  • A healthy tummy

Ask them how the food ‘feels’ in their mouth, is it:

  • Crunchy?
  • Squishy?
  • Cold?
  • Chewy?

Getting everyone involved in mealtimes creates a valuable learning and eating experience!