LASER Learning Reading Text

Food and hygiene

The importance of children’s healthy eating

Children develop food habits that will affect them for life; establishing healthy eating patterns
and positive food routines early on will help to promote their normal growth and development
and will protect against later disease and obesity.

The foods children eat affect every aspect of their lives: their mood, behaviour, growth, even
their ability to concentrate. Good nutrition is vital to a child’s health, from building strong bones
and teeth to the healthy development of internal organs and general growth.

Hygiene and cross infection

If you have a nanny share, children play closely together for long periods and are more likely to
spread infection quickly from one child to one another as well as to the nanny who cares for
them. Good hygiene will help to prevent infection and the spread of disease. For example:

• Teach children how to wash and dry their hands.

• Ensure that both you and the children always wash your
hands: o before eating and drinking.
o after going to the toilet.
o after playing outdoors.
o after handling pets or other animals.
o after blowing your nose.

In the same way, make sure that you wash your hands before preparing food, make sure the
surfaces and utensils you use are clean and hygienic, that food is stored safely and at the correct
temperature, and that you dispose of waste responsibly. Wear clean protective clothing as you
prepare food, and afterwards ensure any washing-up by hand is done thoroughly in hot water,
with detergent (and use rubber gloves). Cover cups or beakers with a clean cloth and air dry
where possible. Drying-up cloths should be replaced every day with clean ones. Lastly, remember
never to cough or sneeze over food.

Encouraging healthy eating

As nannies we need to know what constitutes a good diet and how to encourage healthy
eating. Find out more about current guidance by following the links to healthy eating websites in
the Extended Learning section of this lesson.

It’s important that we eat with the children we care for, letting them see us enjoying a variety of
healthy foods. This is a good way to model healthy eating. We can also make meal times
relaxed and fun, by introducing conversation and laughter at the dining table.

If we always make sure that there are fruit and vegetables available, these healthy options
become a normal way of life for children. When children have a balanced diet they are able to
perform and grow more effectively, so it’s very important to provide appropriate foods to
children, as well as lots of water so that they stay well hydrated.

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Offer children one new food at a time and only give them a small amount, don’t worry if they
don’t eat it you can try again another time.

As practitioners it is our responsibility to ensure that, amongst many other things, children have
balanced healthy diets. The food they eat needs to keep their immune system active and strong
so they need vegetables and fruit every day. Ideally these should vary throughout the week with
practitioners making sure that during one week children eat fresh fruit and vegetables that are
made up of a range of colours. Different fruits and vegetables contain different vitamins and
minerals and these are often reflected in the colour, so a range of colour gives a range of
goodness. Colour also creates interest making the child more likely to try all that is on offer. Eating
outside with children can provide an interesting change for mealtimes; if it’s sunny they’ll also
benefit from Vitamin D, which is produced by the action of sunlight on skin.

Children need to grow, have strong bones and from time to time repair their bodies after
accidents, bumps and illness so they need calcium and protein found in milk, fish, meat and
pulses. Every day they should be eating something from this food group. It does not always have
to be fresh fish and meat, you can use frozen, but try to make as many meals as possible from the
basic product, for example use a chicken to make dinner rather than for example buy a pie with
chicken in it.

Children need energy, so you must provide them with some carbohydrates, bread, cereal, rice,
pasta, etc. This is a food group that children usually love so there are rarely issues with getting
children to eat these. You just need to be careful what you put with these things. It is tempting to
use sugary spreads, and fatty, shop-bought sauces with too much salt. Children don’t need fatty
or sugary shop-bought sauces and spreads; making your own sauces and spreads using
tomatoes and vegetables and adding meat or fish is quite easy and fun for children to do with you
when they are old enough.

Presenting food to fussy eaters.

Make things interesting, keep it fun. Try rainbow salads, homemade ‘funny face’ pizza, plates of
finger food (fruit, vegetables, cheese or chicken, chopped into bite size pieces arranged on a
plate, or little mini bowls with cocktail sticks to pick the food up). Serve fruit smoothie drinks with
a straw; freeze fruit purée to make lollies or fruit ice cubes; grate carrots, cheese and apples to
make the food different and easy to eat. Give the meals fun names; let the children help prepare
the food with you. Make your own potato crisps by thinly slicing potatoes and microwaving or
baking until crispy and serve with thick, homemade tomato sauce. Use apples to make crisps
and a fruit sauce or yogurt as a dip. You need to let your imagination run a little wild, experiment
and have fun with food.

Special diets

Make sure that you have a full and detailed written report of all the children’s dietary needs and
preferences. Always make sure you know how to prepare and cook the food you are dealing
with; never be afraid to ask if you don’t know. You may need to be able to prepare vegetarian,
Halal or Kosher food, for example, so make sure you understand what this involves. In the
PowerPoint section of this lesson you will see a presentation about different cultural and religious
diets.

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Food allergies, such as nut allergies, can be very dangerous and you must make sure the that
you prepare a meal for a child with a nut allergy entirely separately to any other meals that you
may be dealing with that could contain even the tiniest traces of nuts. Also, ensure that you know
where their allergy medicine, normally an Epi-pen or an Ana-pen, is kept, and that you are trained
to use it if the need arises. Meanwhile food intolerances are not life-threatening but can make the
child feel very poorly, so be sure that you know what to avoid.

In planning meals for children you will need to take into account nutritional guidelines,
children’s ages, cultural background and any special dietary needs, allergies or intolerances.

How to provide for the nutritional needs of babies and young children

The government issues guidelines on infant feeding through the Food Standards Agency
(FSA). There are seven main guidelines for a healthy diet which apply to children:

 Enjoy your food. 

 Eat a variety of different foods. 
 Eat the right amount to maintain a healthy weight. 
 Eat plenty of foods rich in starch and fibre. 
 Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. 
 Do not eat too many foods which contain a lot of fat. 
 Do not have sugary foods and drinks too often. 

Babies and weaning

It is important for a nanny to support mothers in any way they can and help them to go back to
work while still continuing to breast feed. This may mean taking the baby to their office, but
alternatively you could help to freeze and then later warm up frozen breast milk. A day’s supplies
of bottles can be made and stored in the fridge for up to 24 hours, so it’s often a practical solution
that meets everyone’s needs.

Nannies also support mum by suggesting ideas to help her express, which kinds of bottles and
teats to use at different stages, making up formula, and cleaning bottles using sterilizers, steam or
liquid.

When feeding collect all the necessary equipment before picking up the baby. The bottle may be
warmed in a jug of hot water; have a muslin square or bib and tissues to hand.

Check the temperature and flow of the milk by dripping it on to the inside of your wrist (it should
feel warm, not hot or cold). Make yourself comfortable with the baby. Do not rush the feed, babies
always sense if you are not relaxed and it can make them edgy too. Try to hold the baby in a
similar position to that for breast-feeding and maintain eye contact; this is a time for cuddling and
talking to the baby.

Stimulate the rooting reflex by placing the teat at the corner of the baby’s mouth; then put the
teat fully into the mouth and feed by tilting the bottle so that the hole in the teat is always covered
with milk. After about ten minutes, the baby may need to be helped to bring up wind; this can be
done by leaning the child forwards on your lap and gently rubbing the back or by holding the
baby against your shoulder.
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After feeding some babies like to rest and some will be a bit sick, you will learn to be aware of how
the baby in your care feels after their milk. Unless the baby is showing discomfort, do not insist on
trying to produce a ‘burp’ – the baby may pass it out in the nappy.