Development of Menu Planning Resources for Child Care Centres: A Collaborative Approach

Abstract

Well-designed menus in child care centres include nutritious meals and snacks necessary for the optimum health, growth, and lifelong healthy eating behaviours of young children. With pending government food and nutrition standards, a need was identified for comprehensive, relevant, user-friendly menu planning resources. Therefore, guided by an action research model, this study identified current menu planning practices, determined the needs and expectations for menu planning resources, and developed menu planning resources that incorporate these standards and other relevant factors. Menu planners from regulated child care centres in Nova Scotia (n=330) were invited to participate by responding to an online survey and/or volunteering as a member of a collaboration group. Survey respondents (n=83) indicated that they wanted their menus to be more interesting, practical, and cost effective. Menu templates, sample menus, and costed recipes were the most requested resources. Two-thirds indicated a preference for webbased resources and about one-third expressed interest in an interactive blog. The collaboration group participants (n=21) met twice and provided valuable input for the development of a menu planning model, menu template, sample menus, recipes, and information sheets. The model unified the menu planning considerations and served as a framework for the Child Care Centre Menu Project website (http://www.msvu.ca/menuproject/). The follow-up evaluation indicated that approximately half of respondents (n=39) had consulted the website and that the sample menus were the most useful resource. The website, blog, and online survey enable ongoing development supported by input from the menu planners. The resources should be transferable, with minor adaptations, to other provincial child care centres, elementary schools, or even licensed senior care facilities.

Menu planning practices in early childhood education and care – factors associated with menu compliance with sector dietary guidelines

“…When examining the self‐reported menu planning practices of services, only 43% of menu planners were fully responsible for planning the menu. This finding is consistent with other studies that have identified involvement from others, including managers, other service staff, parents and nutritionists in the planning of service menus . Despite being responsible for menu planning, a large proportion of menu planners report they do not have sufficient allocated time to undertake menu planning.…”

Exploring the Use of a Web-Based Menu Planning Tool in Childcare Services: Qualitative Cross-sectional Survey Study

“…Four of these questions were included in the director survey. This approach preempted the expectation that most participants responding to the FoodChecker survey would be cooks but that it was also important to seek insights from directors who often play a role in menu planning [25,46].…”

“…The implementation and effectiveness of web-based health promotion tools in achieving public health impact is largely determined by end-user engagement [ 45 ]. In the childcare setting, users of web-based menu planning tools are most likely to be staff members who plan, prepare, and provide food for children—namely childcare cooks and directors [ 25 , 46 ]. However, little is known about how these users engage with web-based menu planning tools to support healthy food provision.…”

Evaluation of the impact of the Healthy Start/Départ Santé intervention on improving menu planning practices and improving the congruence between planned menus and actual food served in Saskatchewan childcare centres

“…Childcare centres’ menus provide information about their food service, which usually consists of two meals and two snacks, and most Saskatchewan centres prepare food on site. Well-planned menus are essential for meeting children’s nutritional needs and developing lifelong healthy eating habits ( Mann et al, 2013 ). Infrequent revision limits children’s experience with new foods, textures and flavours.…”

“…Menu-planning guidelines are vital in ensuring that young children (age 2–5) consume nutritious meals and snacks at the childcare settings ( Nikolopoulos, 2012 ). A balanced and nutritious diet at a young age is essential for health and proper growth ( Mann et al, 2013 ). Menu guidelines allow menu planners to select a variety of healthy foods that meet children’s daily nutrition requirements.…”