Training Talk - Downsize

Children at Acorn Pre-School and The Mighty Oaks nursery in Bedfordshire are tucking into healthier lunch boxes, fruity snacks and milk since room lead Lyndsay Black completed online training on ‘providing a healthy food environment in early years settings’.

The Early Years Alliance, the Early Years Nutrition Partnership and EduCare launched the course in 2018. Students can complete its three modules at their own pace and must score at least 70 per cent in multiple-choice quizzes. The modules cover ‘nutrition fundamentals for children aged one to four’, ‘healthy portion sizes’ and ‘healthy packed lunches’.

Ms Black was drawn to the course having recently become physical activity and nutritional co-ordinator in her setting. ‘A lot of the children had ready-made, processed products in their lunch boxes,’ she says. ‘I noticed more and more snack things you can buy off the shelf.’ Concerned about the high salt and fat content of the food, Ms Black took the course.

The course explained clearly how much food children should be eating, says Ms Black. ‘So many children come to us with a lunch that’s bigger than I’d give to my husband.’

Ms Black did the course in one three-hour sitting. ‘It was really well designed because you couldn’t skip any sections, so you really took in what it was telling you,’ she says. ‘It gave you scenarios and exercises to answer; for example, “What is the correct portion size of carbohydrates for a two-year-old child?”’

After completing the course, Ms Black created information sheets for parents about healthier lunchboxes, and about how to serve food safely, such as slicing grapes to prevent them being a choke hazard. When parents include packets of salty crisps in lunch boxes, they are returned with a note explaining why.

Feedback from parents has been positive, and they have reduced lunchboxes to healthy sizes.

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