3 Cheers for the Early Years

Health Promotion

Healthy Eating

Information for Professionals | Health Promotion | Initiatives | Evaluation

The role of Nutrition in healthy child development:

Nutrition in the early years has a life-long impact on health. When all adults who care for children know about optimal nutrition, they can help children develop a healthy feeding relationship, starting right from birth.

Healthy growth in children is dependent on three important things:

Enjoying healthy eating
Having fun being physically active
Feeling good about yourself.

Adults and children have different roles when it comes to food and eating. It is the adult's role to decide what, where and when to offer food. It is the child's role to decide whether or not to eat and how much. This forms the basis of a healthy feeding relationship.

How can you support Nutrition in your work?

If you work with children:

Serving high quality foods is important: children who are in your care full time will eat most of their daily food there.
Children need constant supervision when eating.
Young children do best with three meals and two to three snacks a day.
Nutrition is more than just food – it can be fun, social and educational.
Children learn better and behave better when they eat well.
Offer children’s favourite foods along with new foods.
Be sure to be aware of any allergies.
Be aware of community resources (such as the Good Food Box and Food Bank) that can help parents who are unable to afford nutritious food.
Limit juice – offer only pure, unsweetened juice (not fruit drinks or fruit beverages) and limit it to ½ to 1 cup per day served only at meal or snack time. For thirst in between, offer water. Soda pop or soft drinks are not recommended except for occasional use.
Allow children enough time to eat. Young children may take 10 to 15 minutes to finish a snack and up to 30 minutes for a meal.
Make meals a social event – talk about their day – what they have done and what is coming up.
Avoid using food or candy as a punishment or reward.

If you work with parents:

Help parents to understand the importance of good nutrition to growth, health and behaviour.
How parents relate to their child is called their parenting style. Parenting style is most often discussed in terms of discipline, but it really relates to all interactions parents have with their children. The feeding relationship (described above) is one aspect of relating to children. When parents and children know and are responsible for their own roles, power battles are less likely to erupt over issues of feeding.
Help parents to understand (and accept) that they cannot force a child to eat. It is the parents’ job to provide healthy and nutritious food, and decide when and where to offer it. It is the child’s job to decide if he will eat and how much. Knowing and accepting that each has their role can help prevent eating problems both today and in the future.

How can 3 Cheers and Calgary Health Region support you?

Resources:

Programs for Families:

Professional Services and Community Action:

Calgary Health Region's Nutrition and Active Living Department is involved in:

Providing content support to 3 Cheers initiatives.
Provincial and national initiatives that support healthy eating and active living in children 0-6 years.
Mentoring other professionals and professionals-in-training.
Providing conference presentations
Providing health education in the community
Social marketing
Media relations, including writing articles for publications and working with TV and radio.
Provincial Growth Assessment in Children Toolkit
Preschool growth assessment surveillance