Eating in a children's education or care service setting

What is the best way of encouraging children from an early age to eat a balanced diet, focusing on fresh fruit and vegetables rather than salty or sugary foods, and to try out new tastes? What is the best way of creating a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere during communal meals? And how can children be taught to enjoy their meals and recognise when they feel hungry or full?

These questions are being asked ever more frequently within children's education and care services. In our society, more and more children are eating in education or care service settings, meaning that they are increasingly responsible for their development and education. These services play an essential role in promoting young people's health, especially in terms of the quality of the food that they eat.

A child's diet should be healthy and balanced

Every day, a child under 11 years of age requires :

• 0.5 to 1L of liquid;

• 5 portions of fruit and vegetables;

• 1 portion of cereal products or potato at each main meal;

• 3 portions of dairy products;

• 1 portion of fish, meat, egg or a vegetarian alternative.

The portions that each person needs depend on their size and can be easily measured with the hand.

See also our page on recommendations for balanced diet for children.

Familiarisation with a balanced diet

How can children familiarise themselves with new food ?

New foodstuffs should be tried out more than once!

There is no hard and fast rule about how often food should be offered in order for it to become familiar. Experience shows that once or twice is rarely enough. A new foodstuff should not be on the menu too often, but offered at 2- to 4-week intervals, maybe prepared in different ways.

Variety should be the norm!

Children should regularly have the opportunity to discover new dishes, new food or a new taste. The daily meal, workshops or projects provide great opportunities for this. Children can then discover a wide range of food, and a diversified diet becomes the norm.

New foods should be offered in small quantities!

The preference should be for serving new food as a starter or side dish to prevent food waste. In fact, serving only a small amount of a certain food can make it even more attractive.

This makes it look special!

It is always a good idea to serve a new dish in a particularly appetising way, so it clearly stands out as something new to try. Educators should actively encourage children to try a small amount, without putting them under any pressure to do so! Children who have tried it can be encouraged to describe the taste to their friends.

Unknown foods should be offered alongside familiar foods.

As a general rule, children do not naturally try new dishes. To ensure they do not go hungry and feel satisfied after a meal, it is recommended that they are always offered a familiar dish alongside any food that is new to them. In this way, even children who are suspicious of new dishes can eat what they know and will not go hungry.

New food should be offered in line with a modular system!

Care should be taken not to mix the new food with the familiar food. An unknown food should always be identifiable and offered separately. This ensures that children will be able to recognise a new food and use their senses to discover it. Children who will only eat celery in a cream soup with other vegetables have no way of knowing what celery looks like or how it tastes, even after they have eaten it a few times in soup.

Describing rather then expressing an opinion

During meals, adults should make sure they describe any new food, without giving their personal opinion. If children are told "taste it, it's nice", they do not know what taste to expect, only that the person talking to them likes the food in question. It is more helpful to describe the smell, taste and consistency of a dish.

Food education in children's education and care service settings

The national reference framework covers meal- and food-related topics as part of non-formal education.

Food education as a facet of non-formal education takes place routinely, during meals or when children are helping in the kitchen or garden each day.

Familiarisation with balanced eating is an important learning process and should be one of the main objectives of food education within the care services. This is where children's interest in food and healthy eating can be nurtured. It should be possible to tackle food-related subjects in a stress-free environment, where children can take independent and self-determined decisions.

All children, wherever they are from and whatever their food habits, should be able to enjoy these experiences. The care services offer an effective setting in which to enhance children’s knowledge and skills in relation to meals and food. Eating and preparing meals together become daily acts that are sources of joy, relaxation and pleasure.