Nursery food review to raise standards in food and drink in early years settings

The Advisory Panel on Food and Nutrition in Early Years will draw up recommendations into how the standards of food prepared by nurseries and childminders could be improved.

The experts will work with the early years sector to examine what good practice exists, what more should be done and whether there should be mandatory standards for the food and drink provided to pre-school children.

The panel will be chaired by Dr Anthony Williams, a leading consultant paediatrician from St George’s, University of London.

The launch of the review coincides with the publication the same day of new research by the School Food Trust, which consulted the major national early years organisations to help them draw up their preliminary report for the panel on areas to consider to improve food and drink for pre-school children.

Their findings suggest that although there is ‘a substantial’ amount of guidance for practitioners in early years settings, there is a lack of knowledge and understanding and gaps where there should be more guidance or new guidance or standards.

For example, the report found that some early years settings are giving children portion sizes for adults, because there are no guidelines on portion sizes for pre-school children.

There is also currently no legislation to ban additives in food and drink provided in nurseries.
Early years organisations also suggested that more guidance was needed to help nurseries manage children's allergies and food and drink for toddlers who need specific diets for medical or ethnic and cultural preferences.

Organisations also said there was a need to signpost early year providers to current up-to-date advice.

In the short term, the School Food Trust said that it will provide a summary of best practice guidance which will be available from the EYFS framework section of the National Strategies website.

The report also calls on the panel to examine training needs in food and nutrition for early years staff and examine the types of food being served, including portion size, salt levels and nutritional value.

Rules regulating the standard of food in schools have had positive results on improving children's health, the Government said, and the panel will look at how changes that have been made in schools could be adapted to early years settings.

The DCSF has recently highlighted figures that show a levelling off of obesity in children (News, 11 March).

An online poll on Nursery World's website carried out earlier this month found overwhelming support for nutritional regulations in early years settings, with 81 per cent in favour and 19 per cent against.