Interview - Ellie McCann

You launched the award last year, what progress has been made?

We've been 'live' for 18 months and so far 106 private and voluntary settings and children's centres have signed up for the award - half of them have completed it and half are well on their way to achieving it. There are now only 29 early years settings yet to register.

Anybody who has direct contact with children from birth to five should be delivering public health messages.

We deliver the Making Every Contact Counts - Brief Interventions in Healthy Lifestyles Training to all settings. We tailor it to key workers so they are able to talk to parents, when they are dropping off and collecting their children, in ways that are supportive and non-judgemental. We also run oral health training to advise nurseries on the impact of diet on children's teeth. We work with many different agencies, for example, the infant feeding team who run UNICEF-approved training to support breastfeeding. We're also working with the Start Active, Stay Active team to train staff to support parents with keeping babies active.

How does the award support settings around nutrition and healthy eating?

We offer a free menu checking service to ensure meals are nutritionally balanced. We've also devised a new resource for settings that aren't able to provide hot meals, promoting healthy packed lunches, so that parents know what to put in. It's also about getting families to think about how they feed their children when they're out and about and that fast food isn't the only option.

What sort of things do settings do differently?

The biggest sea change has been improving the quality of snacks. We've had settings that didn't feel they needed their menus evaluated but then they'll be able to proudly tell parents, 'Your child had pilchards on toast today' and the parents will be so surprised, saying their children would never eat that at home! We talk to settings before and after the award and evaluations show a marked improvement in knowledge. It's helped staff to reflect on their own policies, renew enthusiasm and gain more confidence in healthy lifestyles. When CHEYSA is fully embedded into a staff team we see significant change - everything from wall displays, policies, practices and, very importantly, a genuine understanding of the underlying need for positive health promotion in early years.

What's next?

There are nearly 400 childminders in Coventry and we will be launching the award for them in January. This marks an exciting time for the development of CHEYSA and broadening the commitment to health promotion.

For more information visit www.coventry.gov.uk/cheysa.