<Service name>
Healthy Eating Policy
Please note: Some services may provide meals and snacks for children as part of
weekly, daily or sessional child care provision and fee structure; while in other
services families provide for the nutritional requirements of their child. Some services
may only provide morning and afternoon tea snacks, while others may include
breakfast and/or evening meals in their menu plans.
The NCAC Healthy Eating Policy Template does not endorse a specific nutritional
program or mealtime routine; rather it broadly identifies the nutritional requirements
for children sourced from recognised authorities. The policy should reflect the
service’s daily practices and the needs of stakeholders in accordance with current
recommendations.
Policy Number
<number>
Link to CCQA Principles
Family Day Care Quality Assurance (FDCQA)
Quality Practices Guide (2004) – Principle 4.2
Outside School Hours Care Quality Assurance (OSHCQA)
Quality Practices Guide (2003) – Principle 6.1
Quality Improvement and Accreditation System (QIAS)
Quality Practices Guide (2005) – Principle 6.1
Policy statement

The Healthy Eating Policy reflects the following concepts, to:
o support breastfeeding. If a child is not breastfeeding, support
appropriate formula/bottle feeding strategies;
o promote a child’s normal growth and development;
o promote appropriate food choices and physical activity; and
o regularly review children’s physical growth.
(National Health and Medical Research Council, 2003)

The service plays an important role in meeting the nutritional needs of
children1 while in care.
For example, the Start Right Eat Right program suggests children who attend a
full day of long day care should be offered at least 50% of their
recommended daily dietary intake while in care2 (South Australian Child Care
Nutrition Partnership, 2005). Family day care and outside school hours services
should outline how they can provide or encourage the national nutritional
recommendations.
For the purpose of this policy, a child or children is defined as a person or group of persons aged from
birth to eighteen years (UNICEF).
2 Start Right Eat Right considers a full day of care includes morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea.
1
Page 1 of 12

The Healthy Eating Policy is consistent with the current ‘Dietary Guidelines for
Children and Adolescents in Australia’ (2003). The menu should reflect a wide
variety of nutritious foods, such as:
o plenty of vegetables, legumes and fruits;
o cereals (preferably wholegrain), which include breads, rice, pasta and
noodles;
o lean meats, poultry and fish (or protein alternatives);
o dairy products, which includes milk, cheese, yoghurts;
For children older than two years, a diet low in fat and in particular, low
in saturated fat, is appropriate. Low fat diets are not suitable for
children under two years of age due to their high energy needs.
o plenty of opportunity to drink water;
o foods containing calcium and iron, and low in salt; and
o moderate amounts of sugars and foods containing added sugars or
artificial sweeteners.
Note: This list is particularly important for outside school hours services
who may not measure children’s snacks in portion sizes but may use
group servings as a guide to healthy eating. For example, the service
may provide two servings of dairy each day, which may include a cup
of milk in the morning and a serving of cheese in the afternoon.

The service provides/encourages children with opportunities to experience a
healthy, balanced and nutritious menu/meals and/or snacks.

The service ensures that meals and/or snack times are conducted in safe,
clean, positive environments that promote meaningful interactions between
children and other persons3.

The service has an additional duty of care as defined by <title of relevant
state or territory legislation/endorsed nutritonal program/licensing regulations>
to ensure that children are provided with a recommended level of nutrition
during the hours of the service’s operation.
For example, some state and territory health departments have developed
the Start Right Eat Right nutrition program, which can be implemented into a
service’s daily provision of nutrition. There are other nutrition programs that
can assist child care services meet healthy eating recommendations.
For outside school hours care services, adhering to set portion sizes for snacks
or for food being purchased on an excursion, can be difficult; the nutritional
needs of school age children, while in care, should be focussed on children
making healthy choices that complement recommended guidelines.

The service’s management/coordination unit staff and staff/carers
understand that there is a requirement to implement and adhere to the
service’s Healthy Eating Policy and ensure a consistent level of practice.
For the purpose of this policy, 'persons' include <children, families, staff, carers, carers' family,
management, coordination unit staff, ancillary staff (administrative staff, kitchen staff, cleaners,
maintenance personnel), students, volunteers, visitors, local community, school community, licensee,
sponsor and/or service owner>.
3
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
The service endeavours to meet individual and family needs however, the
health and safety of children who are in care may, at times, come into
conflict with cultural or family beliefs. The service reserves the right to promote
the nutritional needs of children in care at all times.

Where children have food allergies confirmed by a medical practitioner, the
service will actively adhere to the medical recommendations, and ensure that
it is communicated to those persons who directly care for the child.

Note: Some medical conditions require a dietary intake of certain foods that is
in conflict with national nutritional guidelines. For example, children with cystic
fibrosis require a higher than normal dietary intake of salt, fat and protein. The
service may need to state the exceptions to the healthy eating policy and the
national nutritional guidelines.
Rationale
The rationale represents a statement of reasons that detail why the policy and/or
procedures have been developed and are important to the service.
Refer to the following reference materials:
 National Health and Medical Research Council. (2003). Dietary guidelines for
children and adolescents in Australia. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.
Strategies and practices
These are examples. Services are encouraged to develop and adapt the following
strategies and practices as required to meet their individual circumstances and daily
best practices.
Nutritional needs (age based)
Nutritional needs of a baby4 and toddler5
 Caregiving strategies
 Use of breast milk
 Use of formula and bottle feeding
 Introducing new foods and/or solids to babies and/or toddlers
 Meeting individual nutritional needs
 Minimising risks – for example, choking and food spills
 Encouraging the development of self-help skills
Nutritional needs of a preschool child6
 Caregiving strategies
 Introducing new foods to preschool children
 Meeting individual nutritional needs
 Minimising risks – for example, choking and food spills
 Encouraging the development of self-help skills
For the purpose of this policy, baby is defined as a child aged from 0 – 24 months.
For the purpose of this policy, toddler is defined as a child aged from 18 – 36 months.
6 For the purpose of this policy, a preschool child is defined as a child aged from 3 – 5 years.
4
5
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Nutritional needs of a school age child
 Caregiving strategies
 Meeting individual nutritional needs
 Minimising risks – for example, choking and food spills
Food provided by the service
State how the service provides the daily nutritional requirements for children. Some
useful headings are listed below:
Providing suitable foods which meet children’s nutritional needs
 Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
 Services should consider the following reflective question:
o How will the service provide the age appropriate nutritional
requirements for children in care?
Menu planning and review
 Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
 Services should consider the following reflective questions:
o Who is responsible for menu planning?
o How frequent is the menu cycle?
o How can children and families contribute to menu planning?
o When is the menu reviewed?
Minimising the risk of choking
 Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
 List foods that may cause choking and include the prepared state of the
food. For example, the service may decide that apples and carrots in a ‘raw’
state are a high risk for children under three, but are acceptable if cooked.
 Service may determine that children must be seated while eating.
Documenting children’s nutritional and fluid input
 Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
 Monitoring fluid input is an important care giving strategy for children on fluid
diets, especially babies who have not started on solid foods, as the risk of
dehydration is higher in children than in adults. Documenting the nutritional
and fluid intake of children allows the service to monitor a child’s wellbeing
and communicates this information to families.
 Services can describe how they communicate to parents/families about a
child’s daily intake and output of food and fluids. It is important to remember
that this is generally determined by the child’s age and care setting. For
example, in family day care and long day care settings, documenting bottle
feed amounts is an important strategy to monitor fluid input/output; especially
when the weather is warm and young children are at risk of dehydration.
Staff/carers may record the information in a daily diary for each child and
then verbalise the information to parents on arrival. In outside school hours
care, the monitoring of children’s food and fluid intake may be less structured,
and communication with families occurs if there is an inconsistency to a
child’s normal intake.
Page 4 of 12
Food supplied by the family
State how the service encourages the daily nutritional requirements for children.
Some useful headings are listed below:
Encouraging the provision of suitable foods which meet children’s nutritional needs
 Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
 Services should consider the following reflective question:
o How will the service encourage the age appropriate nutritional
requirements for children in care?
Dealing with inappropriate foods or fluids
 Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
 State the steps the service will take when a child or family brings in foods or
fluids that are in conflict with the nutrition policy. This includes the service’s
strategy when an entire meal or snack is inappropriate and removed, and the
child has no food for the time in care.
 Services should consider the following reflective question:
o How will the service provide an alternative?
Minimising the risk of choking
 Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
Documenting children’s nutritional and fluid input
 Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
 Monitoring fluid input is an important care giving strategy for children on fluid
diets, especially babies who have not started on solid foods, as the risk of
dehydration is higher in children than with adults. Documenting the nutritional
and fluid intake of children allows the service to monitor a child’s wellbeing
and communicates this information to families.
 Services can describe how they communicate to parents/families about a
child’s daily intake and output of food and fluids. It is important to remember
that this is generally determined by the child’s age and care setting. For
example, in family day care and long day care settings, documenting bottle
feed amounts is an important strategy to monitor fluid input/output; especially
when the weather is warm and young children are at risk of dehydration.
Staff/carers may record the information in a daily diary for each child and
then verbalise the information to parents on arrival. In outside school hours
care, the monitoring of children’s food and fluid intake may be less structured,
and communication with families occurs if there is an inconsistency to a
child’s normal intake.
Meeting individual needs
 Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
 The service can state how they will consult and collaborate with families to
achieve the best outcomes for children.
 Food or dietary preferences: Services may need to consider the food and
dietary preferences some families have. For example, how will the service
accommodate children whose nutritional needs are governed by:
Page 5 of 12

o religious beliefs, such as Judaism (kosher) or Islam (halal), or
o family lifestyle, such as vegetarianism.
The service should detail how it meets the nutritional needs of a child who is
hungry outside of the service’s scheduled meal or snack time. For example,
how will the service meet the needs of a child:
o whose parent is running late which results in the child being in care later
than usual;
o when a carer has used all the formula milk supplied by the family and
the baby is displaying signs of hunger; or
o where a school age child arrives late to the service after an
extracurricular activity and has missed the scheduled afternoon tea
snack.
Exclusions to the Healthy Eating Policy
 Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
 State the action taken by the service when a family requests certain foods or
nutrients be removed from the child’s nutritional intake.
 The service may decide to state the requirements for exclusion. For example,
a letter confirming the allergy from a medical practitioner.
 The service can state how the alternative nutritional requirements are being
met. For example, do families supply ingredients or foods to meet their child’s
individual needs if there is a proven allergy?
Defining, determining and monitoring an allergy
 Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
 The service may require medical proof that an allergy exists. How does the
service request this information from families?
 The service can state how it checks/replaces medication specific for an
allergy. For example, how often does the service check the expiry date on an
EpiPen?
 Note: Services should develop action plans for children with food allergies in
case of a medical emergency.
Communicating with staff/carers about a child’s allergy or nutritional needs
 Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
Anaphylaxis first aid plan
 Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
 Services can link this sub-heading by stating:
Please refer to the service’s First Aid Policy.
 Services can refer to: Centre for Community Health. (2007). Allergies and
Anaphylaxis. Childcare and children’s health. 10 (1).
Mealtimes and/or snacks
The service can state how it provides a safe environment that promotes appropriate
mealtime behaviours and supports children to make healthy food choices.
Some useful sub-headings are listed below:
Page 6 of 12
Mealtime and/or snack times of the day
 Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
Mealtime and/or snack environments
 Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
Mealtime and/or snack routines, safe eating behaviours
 Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
 Routines can include how children are transitioned from play and learning
environments to mealtimes.
 Safe eating behaviours may include limits. For example, children do not run
and eat at the same time; children sit on chairs when eating at tables.
 Services should consider the following reflective questions:
o How are children supervised by adults during mealtimes and/or snacks?
o How does the service balance the needs of the family and the child
with the limits set by staff?
Accommodating different cultural practices and behaviours
 Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
 The service may consider how it accommodates different cultural mealtime
practices that may conflict with the general consensus in the service. For
example, children who eat with their hands, or are fed by a family member
using their hands, in a service that promotes self-help skills with eating utensils.
Supervision during mealtimes and/or snacks
 Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
 State how children will be supervised by staff/carers during mealtimes and/or
snacks.
 This can be linked to the service’s Supervision Policy.
Role and responsibilities of staff/carers
 Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
 The service can state how staff support and encourage children to make
healthy food choices; role model healthy eating practices and socially
appropriate behaviours; and explore and discuss different cultural, social and
family lifestyles which may influence healthy eating concepts.
The role of students and volunteers during mealtimes and/or snacks
 Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
 The service can state how staff support and guide students/volunteers during
meal and/or snack times; role model healthy eating practices and socially
appropriate behaviours; and explore and discuss different cultural, social and
family lifestyles that influence nutrition.
Special occasions and celebrations
Definition and examples of special occasions and celebrations
 The National Heart Foundation recommends that snack foods such as, cakes,
biscuits, and takeaway foods are limited to once a week. This may be difficult
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

in vacation care where children on excursions buy their own meals, and the
service is unable to dictate what foods children should purchase. Services
may need to state how they encourage a balance between healthy eating
choices and those foods which are considered unhealthy.
Services should consider the following reflective question:
o How does the service support children and families celebrating
birthdays? For example, families may be allowed to supply a birthday
cake, however the service may stipulate that food brought from home
adheres to its Healthy Eating Policy and does not contain nuts or
alcohol.
The service can determine how it celebrates significant cultural or national
days through healthy eating guidelines or the service’s menu. For example, it is
understandable that services may decide to cook fried rice to celebrate
Lunar New Year, and offer children the opportunity to use chopsticks when
eating. However, if this is the only time fried rice and chopsticks are used in the
service then the experience may place ‘token’ values on a culture, and may
not support the service’s Diversity and Equity Policy.
Healthy eating and dental health
 Dental health should be considered by the service when planning, providing
or encouraging healthy eating choices.
 The service may detail its strategy in regards to healthy eating and dental
health. For further information refer to: the Australian Dental Association
(http://www.ada.org.au/).
Healthy eating and physical activity
 Physical activity, combined with a nutritious, balanced food intake,
contributes to a child’s health, wellbeing and self-esteem.
Services can play an important role in promoting fitness, which assists in
reducing health problems, such as childhood obesity and diabetes.
 The service may detail its strategy in regards to healthy eating and physical
activity, such as how it will plan for individual and group gross motor
experiences.
 The service should build awareness with children and families about the
importance of healthy eating choices and physical activity while respecting
family and cultural values.
 Services should consider the following reflective question:
o How will the service provide opportunities for children to participate in
a wide variety of physically active play? How does the service plan for
indoor and outdoor experience during different weather conditions?
 For further information refer to: The National Heart Foundation of Australia’s
Eat Smart, Play Smart: A Manual for Out of School Hours Care.
Care giving behaviours and practices
Behaviour guidance
 Food should not be used as a reward, to punish or provide comfort to
children.
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

The provision of food and drink is not a behaviour guidance strategy or
practice. Using food as a reward or as comfort can produce positive and
negative emotional responses and associations with food.
Services can detail when food is not used as a behaviour guidance practice
or strategy. For example, not offering food to children when they are
distressed or as a reward for listening to staff/carers.
Staff/Carers, students and volunteers as role models
 Children learn through example and role modelling is an important way to
teach children healthy eating behaviours and practices.
 Staff/carers, students and volunteers must comply with the Healthy Eating
Policy.
 The service will ensure that the individual needs of children, especially those
with food allergies, are respected.
Communication with different stakeholders
Children
 Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
Families
 Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
 The service may wish to outline how it will communicate and negotiate with
families who believe their children have allergies to certain foods when there
is no medical evidence of the allergy existing; or families who make cultural or
lifestyle choices for their child, such as vegan diets.
 The service can determine how it communicates with families about the
importance of a balanced diet.
 Similarly, the service may decide to outline how it will accommodate the
eating and mealtime practices of some cultures that may conflict with the
practices established by the service as ‘best practice’. For example, eating
with fingers and hands is the everyday practice in some cultures and utensils,
such as spoons and forks, are not used in the home environment.
 Services should consider the following reflective question:
o How does the service accommodate the child’s cultural and home
practices within the expectations of the service’s best practice?
Staff/Carers
 Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
 Staff/carers may be encouraged to attend professional development in the
areas of children’s nutrition, allergies, understanding and responding to
anaphylaxis, diabetes, nutrition, healthy eating and exercise, understanding
eating disorders, nutritional needs of babies
Management/Coordination unit staff
 Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
Professional development opportunities
 The service can describe:
Page 9 of 12
a nutrition or healthy eating course completed by staff, carers, food
coordinators or cooks
o informal training - this can be a staff member/carer who has
completed formal training who then facilitates a training session to the
service’s stakeholders, or
o professional development materials, such as written resources, posters
or audio-visual aids.
State or territory Departments of Health, local government councils and/or
Professional Support Coordinators may assist services to locate nutrition and
healthy eating courses and information that can help services meet best
practice or licensing requirements.
o

Experiences


Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
The service’s play and learning experiences should reflect healthy eating
habits and food choices for children. For example, cooking experiences.
Excursions
 Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
 The service can identify how the nutritional guidelines are encouraged when
food is being sourced or provided outside the service during an excursion.
 In outside school hours care, excursions are an important factor in planning
care programs, especially during vacation care. The service may need to
consider how it supports the healthy eating policy while also understanding
the concept of excursion ‘food treats’, such as takeaway and soft drinks. If the
service allows for children to purchase food on an excursion that does not
meet the Healthy Eating Policy guidelines, the policy may need to detail the:
o frequency of ‘food treats’ during a period of time. For example, the
service may state that it occurs once during a vacation care period.
o amount of food allowed per child. For example, the service may
decide to allow children to choose one food treat per outing.
o inclusion of healthy foods during the meal or snack. For example, if a
child chooses to eat a takeaway meal then staff/carers can
encourage eating a piece of fruit afterwards.
Community
 Brief and concise detail of the service’s strategy.
 This can include how the service may take part in community awareness
programs that focus on healthy eating choices. Certain programs may be
facilitated by local government councils or schools.
Policy review



The service will review the Healthy Eating Policy and procedures every
<timeframe>.
Families are encouraged to collaborate with the service to review the policy
and procedures.
Staff/carers are essential stakeholders in the policy review process and will be
encouraged to be actively involved.
Page 10 of 12
Procedures
The following are examples of procedures that a service may employ as part of its
daily practices. Examples:
 Employee induction procedure.
 Food and cooking experiences for children.
 Implementing a healthy eating awareness program for children and families.
 Policy development and review procedure.
 Procedure for handling non-compliance of healthy eating practices by a:
o child;
o staff/carer;
o parent or family member; or
o student/volunteer.
 Student and volunteer induction procedure.
Measuring tools
Service may further specify tools that assist in measuring the effectiveness of the
policy. For example:
 The service can measure its Healthy Eating Policy by surveying stakeholders on
the effectiveness of the:
o menu;
o children’s learning experiences; and
o mealtime schedule.
 Services should consider the following reflective questions:
o How does the menu reflect meals and experiences that incorporate a
range of cultural influences and foods tastes, textures, smells and
colours?
o How are seasonal changes reflected in the service menu? For
example, winter versus summer meals.
o How does the menu reflect a variety of foods?
o How are children encouraged to plan cooking experiences?
o How are families involved in cooking experiences?
o How does the service meet or support individual family needs? For
example, a service may not supply breakfast but support families who
require early care starts by allowing their children to bring their
breakfast to eat at the service.
Links to other policies
The following are a list of examples:
 Employment of child care professionals
 Enrolment of new children and families to the service
 Excursions
 Food safety
 Hygiene
 Illness
 Maintenance of buildings and equipment
 Occupational health and safety
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


Play and learning experiences
Supporting children’s individual health needs
Staff/carers as role models
Sources and further reading









Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. (2004). Australia’s
physical activity recommendations for children and youth.
Australian Nutrition Foundation. (2005). Nutrition Australia. Retrieved February
27, 2007, from http://www.nutritionaustralia.org/Default.htm
Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991(Cwlth).
National Heart Foundation of Australia. (2004). Eat smart, play smart: A manual
for out of school hours care. Victoria: Author.
National Health and Medical Research Council. (2003). Dietary guidelines for
children and adolescents in Australia. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.
South Australian Child Care Nutrition Partnership. (2005). Guidelines for food
and nutrition policy in child care centres. Retrieved March 5, 2007, from
http://www.chdf.org.au/icms_file?page=110/PolicyGuidelines10NovFINAL.pdf
Tansey, S. (2005). Outside School Hours Care Quality Assurance Factsheet #1:
Nutrition and healthy eating. NSW: National Childcare Accreditation Council
Inc.
Thompson, E. (2005). Healthy lifestyles for children. Putting Children First, 16, 811.
UNICEF (n.d.). Fact sheet: A summary of the rights under the Convention on
the Rights of the Child. Retrieved January 18, 2007, from
http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf
Useful websites





Anaphylaxis Australia - www.allergyfacts.org.au/
Australian Dental Association - www.ada.org.au/
Diabetes Australia - www.diabetesaustralia.com.au/home/index.htm
Food Standards Australia New Zealand - http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/
National Heart Foundation Australia - www.heartfoundation.com.au
Policy created date
<date>
Policy review date
<date>
Signatures
<signatures>
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