Child-care nutrition environments: results from a survey of policy and practice in New Zealand early childhood education services

Abstract

Objective: To describe nutrition environments in formal child care for 3-and 4-year-olds. Design: Cross-sectional online survey of nutrition-related child-care policy and practice. Written nutrition policies were analysed using the Wellness Child Care Assessment Tool. Setting: Licensed child-care services in the Auckland, Counties Manukau and Waikato regions of New Zealand. Subjects: Eight hundred and forty-seven services (private and community day care, kindergartens and playcentres). Results: Managers/head teachers of 257 child-care services completed the survey. Of services, 82·4 % had a written food, nutrition or wellness policy. Most policies did not refer to the national Food and Nutrition Guidelines and lacked directives for staff regarding recommended behaviours to promote healthy eating. Food was provided daily to children in 56·4 % of child-care services, including 33·5 % that provided lunch and at least two other meals/snacks every day. Teachers talked to children about food, and cooked with children, at least weekly in 60 % of childcare services. Nearly all services had an edible garden (89·5 %). Foods/beverages were sold for fundraising in the past 12 months by 37·2 % of services. The most commonly reported barrier to promoting nutrition was a lack of support from families (20·6 %). Conclusions: Although the majority of child-care services had a written nutrition policy, these were not comprehensive and contained weak statements that could be difficult to action. Foods served at celebrations and for fundraising were largely high in sugar, salt and/or saturated fat. Most services promoted some healthy eating behaviours but other widespread practices encouraged children to overeat or form unhealthy food preferences. KeywordsChild care Pre-school Kindergarten Day care Nutrition environment Nutrition behaviours Obesity preventionAs in many developed countries in the world, New Zealand has experienced a rapid rise in the prevalence of children who are overweight or obese (1) and now has one of the highest childhood obesity rates in the world (2) . Even pre-schoolers are affected by this public health crisis; weight and height measurements taken from 4-year-olds every year from 2009 to 2012 have revealed that one in three are overweight or obese, with no improvements seen over time. Māori and Pasifika children and those living in deprived neighbourhoods had an even greater prevalence of excess weight (3) . A recent Lancet series on obesity emphasised that there is a 'reciprocal … interaction between the environment and the individual' whereby 'environmental factors affect personal preferences and demands for unhealthy foods, which, as part of a vicious cycle, encourage environments to continue promoting unhealthy foods' (4) . This elucidates the importance of creating healthy environments for young children who are still forming food preferences, eating behaviours and physical activity patterns, in order to break the 'vicious cycle' of demand for nutrient-poor and energy-dense foods and a sedentar...

Do childcare menus meet nutrition guidelines? Quantity, variety and quality of food provided in New Zealand Early Childhood Education services

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“…The current study aimed to describe the provision, source and cost of daily food provision to 3‐ and 4‐year‐old children in licensed ECE services; compare weekly menus to guidelines regarding the number of serves from the four main food groups, variety within the four food groups, and the limiting of foods classified as ‘sometimes’ or ‘occasional’; and determine if compliance with the guidelines was associated with ECE service characteristics and/or cost of menu. Previous research on nutrition policy and food‐related behaviours in NZ early education settings found statistically significant differences by type of service (privately‐owned compared with community‐based daycare, kindergartens and playcentres) and little or no difference by neighbourhood deprivation 31 . This paper explores if these findings hold for the food provided in early education settings.…”

“…Services that indicated a spend‐per‐child‐per‐day on food of NZ$10 or more were subsequently phoned or emailed to confirm that the figure was correct. More information about the survey data collection procedures and tools has been published elsewhere 31 …”

“…There is no external monitoring of this regulation beyond self‐review by service managers, 29 and no food programs subsidising the food served in these settings such as the Child and Adult Care Food Program in the United States 30 . A recent analysis of written nutrition policies in NZ ECE services found two‐thirds did not mention nutrition guidelines 31 and an earlier study found only half consulted nutrition guidelines when developing their nutrition policy 32…”

The first INFORMAS national food environments and policies survey in New Zealand: A blueprint country profile for measuring progress on creating healthy food environments

“…It is also recommended by INFORMAS to include early child care and/or education settings. These settings have been studied previously in NZ and were therefore not included as part of this national study and the resulting country profile.…”