Nutrition For Child Care Centres
A positive relationship with food starts early in life with healthy eating habits. How you approach feeding and mealtimes is as important as what you offer. Child care providers play an essential role in helping children develop a lifelong healthy relationship with food. Children consume at least half of their daily meals and snacks at child care, making it an excellent opportunity to offer nutritious food and expose children to new foods.
Both children and adults have a role to play in feeding. Adults can Nurture Children Through Responsive Feeding and learn about Strategies for Mealtime Success.
It is up to you as the adult to decide:
- What foods to offer children at child care
- When to feed children at child care
- Where to feed children at child care
Trust all children to decide:
- Which foods to eat (of the foods you offer)
- How much to eat
The Child Care Menu Planning - Practical Guide has been revised to help child care providers ensure all meals, snacks, and beverages served in child care settings meet healthy eating recommendations for children one year of age or older. They reflect current best practices for creating supportive nutrition environments in the child care setting and will help providers meet the food and drink requirements set out in the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 (section 42 of Ont. Reg. 137/15).
The Child Care Menu Planning - Practical Guide is:
- Based on the guidance of Canada’s food guide (2019)
- Aligned with requirements set out by the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014
- Referenced in the Ministry of Education’s Child Care Centre and Home Child Care Licensing Manuals
Planning Your Child Care Menu
York Region can help support menu planning in child care. Check out the Healthy Eating section in A Public Health Guide For Child Care Providers. Use the one week menu planning form for child care to plan your menus. The sample four-week preschooler menu contains healthy meal and snack ideas. For before and after school care, you can use the one week menu planning form for before and after school programs.
To assess your menu using the Child Care Menu Planning - Practical Guide, use the Menu Revision tool, Meals and Snacks checklist and PDF fillable menu template.
Visit the training and supports for early learning and child care professionals page to see upcoming training opportunities on menu planning with York Region Public Health.
Signs of Hunger and Fullness
Watch the Trust Me, Trust My Tummy 15-minute video to learn more about following the signs of hunger and fullness for babies and children 6 to 24 months of age.
