New Pre-School Food and Nutrition Guidelines Issued

The scourge of childhood obesity seems to be continuing unabated despite numerous attempts by the government to educate parents and children of the need to eat healthily and exercise regularly. Initiatives like Change4Life and the 5-a-day campaign seem to be falling on deaf ears, at least amongst a large part of society.

The government’s School Food Trust has issued some guidelines on what pre-school children should eat and has published guidance on what to do if your child is a fussy eater, as well as some healthy recipes to inspire healthy eating.

The advice has been issued following the release of a report that found that over a fifth of children are obese or overweight by the time they start school, suggesting that any advice aimed at school-age children may already be coming too late.

The guidelines issued by the School Food Trust are voluntary but offer good, consistent, reliable advice to those who want it, including nurseries and childminders. This follows recommendations from a panel of experts, in 2009, who discovered that many childcare providers had not taken on board nutritional advice that schools had adopted, meaning that many pre-school children were being given too much fat, salt, sugar and simple carbohydrates and too little by way of fruit and vegetables and dietary fibre.

The Children’s Minister, Sarah Teather, said of the guidance, “Healthy eating is at the heart of helping every child get the best start in life. Nurseries play a vital role in getting children from all backgrounds to develop good eating habits – but many lack the expert knowledge of what is the best food to serve.”

Childcare providers welcomed the guidance, which they see as a definitive set of answers to what food is appropriate for young children.

The question remains whether parents who do not send their children to nursery or childminders will access the guidance and follow it. It would be interesting to see whether those children who start school overweight or obese come from childcare settings or from home. The majority of children with weight problems come from deprived backgrounds, and do not typically leave the care of their parents until they start school.