A Unique Child: Nutrition - Veggie options

A vegetarian diet that provides a variety of cereal foods, vegetables, pulses, fruits and dairy products is likely to supply sufficient nutrients for a growing child. However, early years settings need to plan meals for vegetarian children carefully to ensure they offer a wide range of foods to meet children's nutritional needs.

Some settings - particularly where there is a diverse ethnic or religious mix - offer only vegetarian meals, others provide meat-free alternative dishes for vegetarians each day, and some choose to put vegetarian food on the menu for one day a week for the whole nursery to enjoy, as well as providing meat-free alternatives on other days.

However, Liz O'Neill, head of communications at the Vegetarian Society, says that the main concern parents call in with is the lack of vegetarian options on offer at nursery - parents are often offered fish or told that their child will have to bring packed lunches because the setting can't cater for them.

She says, 'Vegetarian parents are often very well informed about nutrition and, depending on the age of the child, may have a very useful collection of age-appropriate recipes up their sleeve. My advice to both parents and nursery managers would be to keep talking. And if you need a bit of extra support, the Vegetarian Society has lots of free information on nutrition, recipes and all aspects of vegetarianism at www.vegsoc.org.'

WHAT IS A VEGETARIAN?

Vegetarians do not eat meat, or meat products such as lard or stock. Vegetarian diets can be divided into three main types:

• lacto-ovo vegetarians eat both dairy products and eggs. This is the most common type of vegetarian diet

• lacto-vegetarians eat dairy products but not eggs

• vegans do not eat dairy products, eggs, or any other animal product, including honey. If children in your setting are following a vegan diet, seek specific advice from a dietitian. You may need to ask families to provide appropriate foods. For more information about vegan diets, see www.vegansociety.com. Settings should not offer vegetarians fish before checking with the parents. A person who follows a vegetarian diet with the addition of fish is called a pescatarian.

KEY TIPS

When catering for vegetarians, one of the most important things to do is to check for hidden ingredients. For example, some cheeses, jellies, sweets and foods that are dyed red might have animal ingredients in them. Always check that packets say 'Suitable for vegetarians' or have a symbol to show they are approved by the Vegetarian Society. More on hidden ingredients can be found on the society's website.

Avoiding cross-contamination in the nursery kitchen is also vital. Ensure that non-vegetarian kitchen equipment is kept separate from those used for vegetarian preparation, or is cleaned thoroughly first. For example, ensure that you have different basting spoons, tongs, draining spoons and fish slices for meat-free products. Colour coding utensil handles is a good way of ensuring that equipment doesn't get mixed up.

CATERING GUIDELINES

Children can get all the energy and nutrients they need from a vegetarian diet but a little extra care is needed to ensure that they get enough iron in their diet. Foods such as milk, cheese and eggs can provide protein, vitamin A, calcium and zinc. If the child eats fish, iron can be provided through oily fish such as sardines, pilchards and tuna.

Children's Food Trust nutritionist Laura Sharp explains, 'Because the type of iron found in plant sources of foods such as beans, lentils, dried fruit and breakfast cereals is less well absorbed by the body than meat or fish, it's important that lots of good sources of iron are included in meals planned for vegetarian children. It is good practice, therefore, to provide foods and drink high in vitamin C alongside good sources of iron because vitamin C helps to increase the amount of iron absorbed.'

Here are some guidelines from the Children's Food Trust on menu planning for children following vegetarian diets:

• Children need to get two to three portions of alternative sources of protein each day.

• All lunches and teas should include a portion of a meat alternative such as soya, tofu, textured vegetable protein or Quorn, eggs, pulses like beans or lentils, or nuts to provide protein and minerals such as iron and zinc. Whole nuts should not be given to under-fives, as they can choke on them.

• Settings should include a variety of protein sources during each week. For example, meat alternatives can be used once or twice; pulses and beans can be used two to three times, and eggs and cheese can be used once or twice per week.

• Ensure that the food looks and feels similar to food given to other children.

• Limit bought and home-made products using meat alternatives to no more than once a week because of their high salt content. These include vegetarian sausages, burgers, nuggets and pies.

• Use cheese that is labelled as vegetarian for children whose parents want to avoid them eating rennet - an animal product.

• When catering for vegetarians who exclude food items for religious or ethical reasons, avoid compromising the food given in any way. For example, picking meat out of a dish is not acceptable. The vegetarian dish should be prepared first and the meat added later for other children.

• Vegetarian meals and snacks are suitable for all children, and the national Voluntary Food and Drink Guidelines (part of the Eat Better, Start Better programme) recommends that settings provide one lunch and one tea per week for all children using a meat alternative or pulses for protein.

For examples, see the sample menus in section 6, pages 69-70 of the Eat Better Start Better guide (see More Information column).

MORE INFORMATION

• Voluntary Food and Drink Guidelines for Early Years Settings in England - a practical guide, www.childrensfoodtrust.org.uk/assets/eat-better-start-better/ CFT%20Early%20Years%20Guide_Interactive_Sept%2012.pdf

• Nutritional Guidelines for Food Served in Public Institutions, prepared for The Food Standards Agency by The Caroline Walker Trust, www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/walkertrustreport.pdf

• Vegetarian Society, www.vegsoc.org

• Vegan Society, www.vegansociety.com

CASE STUDY

Stephanie Molnar, director of the Elmscot Group, which includes three private day nurseries in Altrincham, Cheshire, has called on the experts at the Vegetarian Society's Cordon Vert Cookery School to help support her chefs working out of three different kitchens in the nursery chain.

She says, 'We are passionate about providing home-cooked food from fresh ingredients and we want to continue to ensure that we are placing an equal emphasis on vegetarian food. The Master Chef-style cookery course will not only provide us with some inspiration for a more varied vegetarian menu, but will also be a great team-building exercise.

'We vary the main protein in our meals each day. When meat is in the menu, a vegetarian option is always planned for. We have lots of diverse dietary requirements so we freeze versions of food such as vegetable lasagne, roast Mediterranean vegetable and puy lentil pasta and creamy mushroom and chickpea stroganoff. We aim to ensure that every child, no matter what dietary requirements they have, gets an equally palatable plate of food in front of them.

'For us, the main challenge is to make sure we provide a good variety of protein. This is made more difficult by the fact that it's a nut-free nursery, because nuts provide texture and are a good source of protein.'

The Cordon Vert cookery school provides support for the caterers at any nursery or school. They are sympathetic to caterers' situations and they are aware that they may be catering for a few veggies, so they have ideas to fit all budgets. They will explain and discuss with the caterers:

• how many dishes they already make that can be adapted for veggie children - for example, cottage pie, chilli or curry

• that it is important that all the food looks similar, as children don't like different-looking food

• ideas on using veggie products such as pulses, which are economical and practical

• suggestions of recipes, taking into account time and working practices.

The cookery school is also involved in helping nurseries become approved by the Vegetarian Society. The rating means that the vegetarian dishes served at the nursery are guaranteed to contain only free-range eggs, and be free from animal meat and genetically modified organisms.