Programs and Services Offered - Child Care

Serving nutritious meals and snacks to infants, toddlers and preschoolers and school-age children in your care provides the children with the nourishment and energy they need to grow, learn and be healthy. The foods you choose to serve, and having a relaxed, happy atmosphere at the table, will help children form healthy eating habits for life.

Planning Your Child Care Menu 

York Region Community and Health Services, Nutrition Services can help you plan your child care menus. Check out the Sample 4-week Preschooler menu to give you some healthy meal and snack ideas.  If your centre is in York Region, a nutrition educator will review your menus upon request. Call 1-800-735-6625 ext. 4337 or ext. 4335 to arrange a menu review.   Come Grow With Us Health Education and Resource Manual for Child Care Providers has a chapter on healthy eating and menu planning in child care settings.

Workshops for Child Care Providers

 

York Region Community and Health Services, Nutrition Services offers the following workshops about healthy eating and menu planning for children in York Region child care settings:
 

Nutrition for Children in Child Care Settings: A 1 1/2 hour workshop for child care operators, supervisors and staff. Topics include Canada's Food Guide, the Day Nurseries Act: Nutrition Requirements, healthy eating for children, healthy feeding relationships and fussy eaters.
 

Menu Planning for Healthy Meals and Snacks: A 3-hour workshop for child care centre cooks in conjunction with the centre's operators/supervisors. Topics include healthy eating for children, Canada's Food Guide, the Day Nurseries Act: Nutrition Requirements, menu planning and healthy recipes kids will like.
 

Healthy Eating for Young Children: A 1 1/2 hour workshop for home child care providers. Topics include the Canada's Food Guide, Day Nurseries Act: Nutrition Requirements, serving sizes for children, planning healthy meals and snacks, healthy feeding relationships and fussy eaters.
 

Please call 1-800-735-6625 ext. 4338 or ext. 4335 to arrange a workshop. Note: We require you arrange a suitable location for the workshop and guarantee a minimum of 10 participants.

 

Body Image and Young Children 

 

Storybooks about food and healthy eating
You can help take the mystery out of a food by reading storybooks about food and healthy eating to your children Storybooks about food for preschoolers.

 

Young children can have issues with their body image. Child care providers can play an important role in fostering a healthy body image.

 

External Links:

 

NutriSTEP®: Nutrition risk-screening questionnaires, in which parents of toddlers and preschoolers 18 months to 5 years of age answer questions about their child's eating habits

Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide: A guide for providing Canadians age 2 and over with a healthy pattern of eating

Canadian Paediatric Society: A source of information on child and youth health

Dietitians of Canada: A source of information on food and nutrition for Canadians

Healthy Start for Life: A website that can help parents and child care providers learn more about the nutrition and physical activity needs of preschoolers

Red Flags Early Identification in York Region: A reference guide to assist early years professionals decide whether to refer a family for additional advice, assessment and/or treatment

Ellyn Satter Associates: A website with information for professionals and parents about eating and feeding