« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
nutritional guidance for early years:
food choices for children aged 1-5 years in early education
and childcare settings
annex 2 - menu planning
Protein
The standard set is for the combination of one meal and
one snack to provide 40% of the daily RNI for protein. Menu
analysis shows that generally the protein content will come
out higher than 40%. It is recognised that this is in line
with eating patterns in the UK population and helps to
provide sufficient iron and zinc in the diet.
Vitamin D
The UK Reference Nutrient Intake for Vitamin D for
children aged 6 months to 3 years is 7µg/day.
1 For children 4 years and older there is no RNI
set; the action of sunlight on the skin will ensure
adequate Vitamin D status. This depends on regular exposure
to summer sunlight to accumulate Vitamin D stores for over
the winter months. Vitamin D status in pre-school children
shows variation dependent on season of the year and dietary
intake of Vitamin D can be an important contributor to
maintaining Vitamin D status during the autumn, winter and
spring months.
2,3 Children at risk of Vitamin D deficiency
specifically are those living in northern latitudes
(Scotland) and those from traditional Asian or Islamic
communities (this is particularly important in Scotland in
the winter months
2).
Achieving the dietary RNI is not possible in the winter
months without supplementation.
Routine Vitamin D supplementation is recommended for all
children over 1 year of age and should be continued until 5
years unless the diet is diverse and plentiful.
3,4
It is essential that there is outdoor space where
children can play, or have access to an outside area such
as a garden, park or other safe open space. Exposure to
direct sunlight on the skin (face and arms unprotected with
sunscreen) in outdoor play helps children to maintain their
Vitamin D status.3 The exposure time required for adequate
synthesis of Vitamin D in the skin is short (10-15 minutes
on face and arms in summer months) and should not conflict
with 'sun policy' on protective clothing, sunhats and
sunscreen.
1 Department of Health.
Dietary Reference Values for Food Energy and Nutrients
for the United Kingdom. Report on Health and Social
Subjects 41. 1991 London: HMSO.
2 Davies PSW, Bates CJ, Cole TJ, Prentice A, Clarke
PC. Vitamin D: seasonal and regional differences in
pre-school children in Great Britain.
Eur J Clin Nutr 1999;53:195-198.
3 Department of Health.
Nutrition and Bone Health. Report on Health and
Social Subjects 49. 1998 London: HMSO.
4 Department of Health.
Weaning and the Weaning Diet. Report on Health and
Social Subjects 45. 1994 London: HMSO.
Iron
We have adopted a standard of 40% of RNI for iron.
Children between the ages of 1-5 years have high iron
requirements due to rapid growth and the build up of iron
stores. A high proportion of pre-school age children in the
UK have sub optimal iron intakes and iron deficiency
anaemia is common in this age group.
1,2 Iron deficiency can have lasting effects on
health and development.
3 Therefore it is important that efforts are
made to improve iron status of young children through
improving diet.
In practice, achieving adequate iron intake is not easy
and requires careful menu planning to ensure the inclusion
of iron rich foods on a regular basis.
4 Red meats are the richest and most easily
absorbed source of iron, however, breakfast cereals
fortified with iron have also been shown to be an important
source of iron for children. The formal childcare setting
offers an opportunity through the practise of good
nutrition to boost overall iron intakes.
1 Gregory JR, Collins DL, Davies
PSW, Hughes JM, Clarke PC.
National Diet and Nutrition Survey Children Aged
1.5-4.5 Years. Report of the Diet and Nutrition
Survey, Volume 1. 1995 London: HMSO.
2 Watt RG, Dykes J, Sheiham A. Socio-economic
determinants of selected dietary indicators in British
pre-school children.
Public Health Nutrition 2001;4(6):1229-33.
3 Grantham-McGregor S, Ani C. A review of studies on
the effect of iron deficiency on cognitive development in
children.
Journal of Nutrition 2001;131(2S-2):649S-666S.
4 Gibson SA. Iron intake and iron status of
pre-school children: associations with breakfast cereals,
vitamin C and meat.
Public Health Nutrition 1999;2(4):521-528.
Sodium
The standard set is for the combination of one meal and
one snack to provide a maximum of 40% of the daily SACN
1 recommendation for sodium for the age group
1-5 years. The sample menus given in this document do not
meet the nutrient guidance for sodium. This reflects the
fact that the majority of the sodium in the diet is found
in processed food and also in breads. In order to address
this there needs to be a marked decrease in the sodium
content of food products currently used in the UK. Work is
currently underway with partners in food industry to
address this issue. The implementation of the product
specifications for the sodium content of manufactured foods
developed for school meals will help to reduce the sodium
content of processed foods used in public sector catering.
2
1 Scientific Advisory Committee on
Nutrition.
Salt and Health Report, 2003
www.sacn.gov.uk
2 Nutrient Specification for Manufactured
Products 2004
www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/education/niss-00.asp
« Previous | Contents | Next »