Interview - Patricia Mucavele

The School Food Trust is leading the development of the national voluntary guidelines for food and drink in early years settings. This follows recommendations by the Advisory Panel on Food and Nutrition in the Early Years and the Tickell review of the EYFS.

What will the guidelines include?

They are based on recommendations made by the Advisory Panel on Food and Nutrition in the Early Years. They will give clear, practical advice on how to provide healthy, balanced and nutritious food and drink by specifying the type, amount and frequency of foods that could be served. The guidelines are based on four food groups: starchy foods, such as bread, cereal, pasta and rice; fruit and vegetables; milk and dairy; and meat, fish, eggs, beans and other non-dairy sources of protein.

They will also offer advice on portion sizes for children from one to four years old, how to check labels and how to choose products that are lower in salt and sugar.

Are the guidelines being trialled?

The trust is working with nurseries, children's centres and childminders across England to pilot test the guidance. These settings will implement the guidelines for one week, and give feedback on how using them affects their routine, time and costs.

We want early years settings to be critical of the guidelines and have asked them to tell us what information they do or do not understand. It's important that the guidelines meet settings' needs. Settings will also share recipes used during the trial that the children enjoy eating. These 'tried and tested' recipes will be published to illustrate how to plan a one-week menu.

How are you supporting settings?

The School Food Trust Eat Better, Start Better project (News, 26 July) will provide a comprehensive training package. Two courses will be piloted in five local authority areas this autumn. One course is for early years and health professionals in local authorities and Primary Care Trusts to help them support settings in using the guidelines. The second course is for early years practitioners and covers the food and drink guidelines and how to run healthy cooking sessions with families.

What is the next step?

The guidelines will be published this autumn, and we hope to roll out the training package to 30 local authorities between April 2012 and March 2013.

The next challenge is to find ways to communicate the guidelines to other settings that provide food, such as mother and baby groups, to ensure a consistent message.