A Unique Child: Nutrition - Home cooking

Fussy eaters, obesity, tooth decay, food allergies, over-reliance on convenience foods, and parents' fear of cooking from scratch are just some of the reasons that early years settings are making huge efforts to communicate messages about healthy eating to parents.

Innovative approaches being used to get parents on board include group cooking sessions, taster weekends and sharing information with parents about their children's favourite recipes.

Nutritionist Laura Sharp, of the Children's Food Trust's Eat Better, Start Better programme, says, 'Nurseries have a powerful opportunity to reach parents with guidance on children's nutrition, cooking with children and getting them into good food habits from an early age.

'Given the costs to the NHS of malnutrition in all its forms, and the importance of good nutrition to help children reach their full potential, we need to use every chance we can to give parents clear, practical information and ideas.'

DADS IN THE KITCHEN

High levels of tooth decay and obesity among children is the driving force for getting parents involved in food preparation at Chapel Street Nursery School and ABC Children's Centre in Luton, Bedfordshire.

Head chef Karl Finnerty says, 'We see a lot of stumps for teeth because children are eating and drinking the wrong types of food. For example, some children over the age of one are still drinking sugary drinks from a baby bottle and others snack on Mars Bars and crisps. We also have some children with specialist diets - diary free and gluten free, for example - and there are a lot of fussy eaters. We have one child who won't eat anything green and another who won't touch any food that's yellow or white.

'It can be quite challenging at times. Most of the children eat our home-cooked meals but a small proportion bring a packed lunch. Last week, a new starter came with a lunchbox consisting of a white bread sandwich with chocolate spread, a Kit Kat and a can of Coke.

'We didn't stop him from eating it, but we put another copy of our Healthy Eating Lunchbox policy, which the parent signed on enrolment, into the lunchbox so that the parents would see that the food was unacceptable. We do get the odd slip sometimes but the parents do change what's in the lunchbox.'

One of the most successful ways to encourage parents to provide healthy, nutritious food for their children is by getting them involved in the cooking process, according to Mr Finnerty.

From time to time, he runs taster sessions for the dads at weekends. 'In the last session, we cooked chicken and chips the healthy way and we bought chicken and chips from the local fried chicken take-away shop.

'We cooked the chips from potatoes and used olive oil to roast the chicken to make it crispy. They were surprised that my option was half the calories and only cost £2.50 more - and it was tasty and not swimming in grease. They were also surprised that the man in the fried chicken shop had no idea what was in the food.

'Some dads are scared about cooking and they avoid the kitchen. By coming here and seeing how to cook healthy and easy food for their families, they are encouraged to do it at home - and they pass this on to their children.

'There can be challenges because a lot of people are brought up with the notion that convenience food is cheaper. They are often surprised to find that the fresh version is cheaper. But the best way to get them on board is to be physically in the same room as them and get them involved in the cooking so that they visually experience it.'

TIME TO EXPLORE

Unhealthy food habits and challenging behaviour over food has inspired the Pre-School Learning Alliance's Limelight Family Learning Centre in Lewisham to deliver weekly Food Explorer sessions and cookery classes for parents, carers and their children under the age of five.

The hands-on sessions cover basic skills such as how to chop an onion or how to separate an egg yolk from the white, how to cook simple recipes like parsnip and apple soup or couscous salad, advice for parents struggling with the transition to solid food, and dealing with food intolerances or fussy eaters.

The sessions are aimed at getting children and their parents back 'in touch' with where food comes from by exploring the tastes, textures and smells with all their senses.

Family learning practitioner Lucy Pope explains, 'There is definitely an issue with obesity in Lewisham - the wrong foods are being eaten and children are growing up with convenience food instead of home-cooked meals. As a result, there are also a lot of fussy eaters because parents' food habits influence the children.

'The best way to encourage children to eat home-cooked food is to allow them to be involved in preparing it. That way, they take ownership. If you just put it down in front of them their stubborn streak kicks in and it can become a battle of wills, which can be upsetting for parents.

'In our session, we let the children feel the egg yolk slipping through their fingers. They use scissors to chop up the ingredients and they mix it together in a big bowl. Throughout the sessions we talk to parents about the importance of not adding too much salt to recipes and how to use alternatives, such as reduced salt stock cubes.

'We offer advice on food intolerances and parents share their knowledge and experiences. It's not a teacher-led session; it's very interactive and hands-on and at the end of the session we eat the food together at tables, which is a novelty for some families who don't have enough space in their home for a dining table.

'Visual learning is the key to success - not bombarding people with healthy-eating messages. It's a gradual process, but we are seeing some great results. Parents are experimenting with their food at home more and they are actively seeking out fresh ingredients from local markets.'

A RECIPE IN THE MAKING

For Dizzy Ducks Day Nurseries, the problem of fussy eating has inspired a recipe book, the Dizzy Ducks Favourite Recipe Collection. The book was put together after a parent of a fussy eater suggested the nursery share recipes that were going down well in the settings and families' homes.

Nursery director Sian Nisbett says, 'We take food and healthy eating seriously and this was an ideal opportunity to share recipes with our parents. We also wanted to build on the rapport with our parents about what their children's likes and dislikes are when it comes to food.

'There is a feeling that children often eat more of a variety of food when at nursery and so our aim was to include some more obscure recipes such as Jane's Special Curry, Sweet and Sour Chicken and Pumpkin Lasagne, as well as some of the more traditional favourites like Meatballs, Shepherd's Pie and Banana Cake.

The book is priced at £6.99 and is available to buy through louisa.fells@dizzyducks.co.uk.

FURTHER INFORMATION

• Eat Better, Start Better Code of Practice - this includes seven principles, one of which is communicating with parents. There's also a guide to putting together a food policy for your nursery, which again includes elements of working with parents www.childrensfoodtrust.org.uk/resources/ebsb-resources/ebsb-practical-tools

• Healthy Under 5s programme www.healthyunder5s.nhs.uk

• Pre-School Learning Alliance www.pre-school.org.uk/about-us/nutrition

• Dizzy Ducks Day Nurseries www.dizzyducks.co.uk

• British Nutrition Foundation www.nutrition.org.uk

• Infant and Toddler Forum www.infantandtoddlerforum.org