Infant feeding nutrition policies in Australian early childhood education and care services: a content and qualitative analysis

McGuire, Julianne; Gallegos, Danielle; Irvine, Susan

doi:10.1186/s40723-018-0053-2

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Currently, ACT, QLD and NT have age-specific recommendations separating children three years and younger from those four years and older, while NSW separates those under two years [ 35 , 45 , 46 , 47 ]. Other researchers have also suggested benefits of separate feeding policies for the infant age group [ 62 ]. Menus could potentially reflect specific provision by ADG age group segmentation if online menu planning tools and health professional software algorithms were adjusted to accommodate these; however, the practicality for services to work with and operationalise such requirements would need to be investigated.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These differences made translation and adoption of a nationally consistent approach challenging. Previous research has found that childcare staff commonly rely on personal knowledge and that some services do not use evidence-based guidelines such as the ADG when determining nutritional adequacy of the food provided to children [ 62 , 63 ]. Moreover, poor awareness of jurisdictional guidelines and evidence-based recommendations have been identified at the service level.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The differing jurisdictional recommendations have resulted in a number of similar guidelines being used and resources and training being developed to support these, to a variable extent, within each jurisdiction. National alignment could improve service support by allowing consistent and shared national training and resources [ 62 ], by reducing unnecessary duplication and by allowing new developments to benefit the entire sector. For most jurisdictions, a harmonised approach could result in quite minimal changes to their existing guidelines, as many jurisdictions are currently close to alignment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Childcare Food Provision Recommendations Vary across Australia: Jurisdictional Comparison and Nutrition Expert Perspectives

Spence

Love

Byrne

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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Early childhood is a critical stage for nutrition promotion, and childcare settings have the potential for wide-reaching impact on food intake. There are currently no Australian national guidelines for childcare food provision, and the comparability of existing guidelines across jurisdictions is unknown. This project aimed to map and compare childcare food provision guidelines and to explore perspectives amongst early childhood nutrition experts for alignment of jurisdictional childcare food provision guidelines with the Australian Dietary Guidelines (ADG). A desktop review was conducted and formed the basis of an online survey. A national convenience sample of childhood nutrition experts was surveyed. Existing guideline recommendations for food group serving quantities were similar across jurisdictions but contained many minor differences. Of the 49 survey respondents, most (84–100%) agreed with aligning food group provision recommendations to provide at least 50% of the recommended ADG serves for children. Most (94%) agreed that discretionary foods should be offered less than once per month or never. Jurisdictional childcare food provision guidelines do not currently align, raising challenges for national accreditation and the provision of support and resources for services across jurisdictions. Childhood nutrition experts support national alignment of food provision guidelines with the ADG.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Childcare Food Provision Recommendations Vary across Australia: Jurisdictional Comparison and Nutrition Expert Perspectives

Spence

Love

Byrne

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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“…These guidelines within the National Quality Framework are not authoritative, but provide flexibility on how service providers might meet the Standards. 21 As demonstrated in table 1 , this guide describes best practice guidelines for education and care services, recommending staff use positive role-modelling behaviours, engage children in healthy eating conversations, use cooking experience to build knowledge, provide meals consistent with the Australian Dietary Guidelines, implement frequent opportunities for physical activity and role-model enjoyment by engaging in activities. 20 A combination of resources designed to support OSHC programmes in meeting quality area 2 will be used to guide the criteria within this study, including (1) Heart Foundation’s ‘Eat Smart, Play Smart’ manual, 22 (2) Nutrition Australia’s ‘Healthy eating in the National Quality Standards’ 23 and (3) the ‘Food and drink checklist for outside school hours care’.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These guidelines within the National Quality Framework are not authoritative, but provide flexibility on how service providers might meet the Standards 21. As demonstrated in table 1, this guide describes best practice guidelines for education and care services, recommending staff use positive role-modelling behaviours, engage children in healthy eating conversations, use cooking experience to build knowledge, provide meals consistent with the Australian Dietary Guidelines, implement frequent opportunities for physical activity and role-model enjoyment by engaging in activities.…”

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confidence: 99%

Healthy eating and physical activity environments in out-of-school hours care: an observational study protocol

et al. 2020

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IntroductionChildcare settings have been widely identified as important venues for promoting healthy lifestyles to children. Out-of-school hours care (OSHC) is a rapidly growing childcare service, yet there has been limited research reported on healthy eating and physical activity (HEPA) environments within the Australian OSHC setting. This research aims to describe the HEPA environments related to foods and beverages served, staff behaviours and child physical activity levels across two local health districts within New South Wales, Australia. This study will provide evidence to support future interventions and policies in Australian OSHC settings.Methods and analysisA cross-sectional study design will be used to describe the food and beverages provided and child activity levels, and report on environmental correlates. OSHC programmes will be visited on non-consecutive weekdays between 2018 and 2020. The frequency of foods and beverages offered will be observed and categorised into food groups aligned to the Australian Dietary Guidelines. Children’s physical activity will be measured using ActiGraph wGT3X-BT accelerometers. Staff behaviour will be captured via direct observation and the System for Observing Staff Promotion of Activity and Nutrition. Short interviews with programme directors will gather contextual information about OSHC practices and policies.Ethics and disseminationFindings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed scientific journals, conference presentations and individualised feedback to each participating service. Ethical approval was granted by the University of Wollongong Human Research Ethics Committee (HE17/490).

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Quality evaluation of nutrition policies in early childhood education and care services in Nerang, QLD

Kirkegaard,

Anderson,

Irwin

et al. 2024

Health Prom J of Aust

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Issue AddressedFood environments in early childhood, such as early childhood education and care services, influence the development of dietary patterns and behaviours that traverse into adulthood, where they affect health and longevity. Nutrition policies are mandatory in early childhood education and care services in Australia and can positively or negatively shape the food environment. However, the quality of such nutrition policies is unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the comprehensiveness and strength of nutrition policies of early childhood education and care services among services participating in a university‐community alliance in South East Queensland.MethodsEarly childhood education and care services (n = 12) in Nerang, Queensland, Australia, participated in a cross‐sectional study evaluating the comprehensiveness and strength of nutrition policies across four domains (Nutrition Education, Nutrition Standards, Promoting Healthy Eating and Communication and Evaluation) of the Wellness in Child Care Assessment Tool.ResultsNutrition policies evaluated in this study had median total comprehensiveness scores of 55 (out of 100) and median total strength scores of 19 (out of 100). ‘Nutrition Education’ had the highest median scores for comprehensiveness (67 out of 100) and strength (33 out of 100), while ‘Nutrition Standards’ had the lowest comprehensiveness score (41 out of 100), and ‘Communication and Evaluation’ had the lowest strength score (0 out of 100).ConclusionsAll services have a nutrition policy, but there are opportunities to enhance both the content and linguistic strength of statements within policies related to nutrition domains.So What?There is a clear need to improve the comprehensiveness and strength of written statements in nutrition policies across all four domains, particularly ‘Nutrition Standards’ and ‘Communication and Evaluation’.

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Infant feeding nutrition policies in Australian early childhood education and care services: a content and qualitative analysis

Cited by 10 publications

References 45 publications

Childcare Food Provision Recommendations Vary across Australia: Jurisdictional Comparison and Nutrition Expert Perspectives

Childcare Food Provision Recommendations Vary across Australia: Jurisdictional Comparison and Nutrition Expert Perspectives

Healthy eating and physical activity environments in out-of-school hours care: an observational study protocol

Quality evaluation of nutrition policies in early childhood education and care services in Nerang, QLD

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