Background

The School Food Trust has developed a practical guide to introducing the new national voluntary food and drink guidelines for early years settings.
The guide has been developed to help early years providers and practitioners meet the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) welfare requirement for the provision of healthy, balanced and nutritious food and drink.
The guide can be viewed at http://www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk

Rosie Dodds, Senior Policy Adviser at NCT, the UK’s largest charity for parents, said:

“NCT welcomes these clear, practical guidelines and their emphasis on communicating with parents. We know parents want their children to develop good food habits, and the guidelines will help early years care providers give children appropriate, healthy, interesting meals so they can eat well.

“The guidelines are full of essential but poorly-known facts such as that foods designed for babies and young children are not allowed to contain artificial sweeteners or colours, and that young children need many opportunities to try a food they may initially reject.”