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Cooking And Gardening For Young Children.

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Resources

These pages are a mixture of our own resources, and those we have found from other people and organisations. Some resources here have been provided by practitioners and parents who have tried and tested them, but you will have to assess for yourself the benefits for your own children and whether it will meet the guidelines you are working with.

Some resources are created by food industries. While they are not allowed to promote intentionally inaccurate information, they will naturally wish to promote their product as the most important part of the diet. However some of the resources they provide are very good when used in context. Wherever I am aware that a resource is industry sponsored I will say so, and you can exercise your common sense in evaluating it.


Books (5) Classroom Activity Ideas and Lesson Plans (1) Farm, Factory and Shop Related Activity Ideas (4) Food Related Activities (10) Growing Related Activities (11) Good Websites (5) Online Games, Videos and Downloadables (24) Other Useful Bits and Pieces (9) Recipes (1) Places to find recipe collections (7) Single Recipes (29) Seasonal Food Lists (12) The Foodies Books Support Resources (1) Activities Linked To The Story Themes (12) Food Related Activities (6) Tried and Tested - Garden Ideas (12) Tried and Tested - Healthy Living Ideas (1) Tried and Tested - Kitchen Ideas (11)

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Websites For Healthy Eating Background Info

19/04/2009 10:04:00


Websites For Healthy Eating Background Info
 
Quite a few sites provide good information on healthy eating for parents and on nutritional teaching for practitioners. Here are some of the websites, or individual parts of websites, which might be useful to those living or working with little ones.
 
Phunky Foods Factsheets
Phunky Foods have a selection of factsheets for parents on different aspects of food and nutrition - for example food and bone health, salt, e-numbers, vitamins and supplements, omega oils etc.
There are also some good general tips on the same site at http://www.phunkyfoods.co.uk/parents/tips.html
 
School Food Trust Site
This is the main website for your background information and advice on food policy in school. Good resources and tips on lunchboxes, food standards, working with parents, case studies, funding etc. There are stacks of factual resources, most are downloadable and you have to print off yourself, but some they will send out. Among other things there is a good practical printable seasonal food chart. http://www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk/
 
Children's Food Campaign
This is a campaign to inform the public about issues practical and political relating to children's food. It's a goldmine of information about labelling, food industry tactics and political intention. For example find out about teaching resources (some of them listed in these listings) created by the food industry and if there is anything you need to be aware of in your use of them. Add your voice to the petitions on food marketing and safety while you are there. http://www.sustainweb.org/childrensfoodcampaign
 
Change For Life
Change4Life is the new government and NHS campaign to improve wellness and health. It's main (but not only) areas of focus are diet and exercise. There are lots of resources around fit and healthy children, some general information, and some individual practical tips. People can join as individuals or families but you can also join as an organisation and pass on the ideas to the children and families you work with. For signing up you get a pack of resources – posters, playing cards, reusable food stickers and charts, and there is a load of stuff on their website. http://www.nhs.uk/Change4Life
 
5 A Day
This is the NHS's website to encourage us all to eat more fruit and veg. It's quite a good background checker for information on getting more fruit and veg into the diet. There are sections on children's health, eating fruit and veg on a budget, portion sizes, requirements for different age groups etc. There is also a cute little meal planner tool which gives you some menu suggestions and counts your fruit and veg quota as you choose them.
 


Nutritional Advice

British Dietetic Association
The British Dietetic Association is the official professional association representing more than 6500 dietitians. If you're not sure what the difference is between a dietitian and a nutritionist is, read this. While a lot of the site is geared towards dietitians themselves, there is a really useful Food Facts section where you can download a load of factsheets on lots of different aspects of food and nutrition. These sheets are generally in more detail than those on the British Nutrition Foundation site.
http://bda.uk.com/foodfacts/index.html
The BDA also runs an official searchable database of registered dietitians at http://www.dietitiansunlimited.co.uk/


British Nutrition Foundation
The British Nutrition Foundation website is a generally good source of information on the basics of nutrition.
However you should know that it is funded by the food industry, so it is not always as unbiased as it might appear. For example there are some omissions of information on things like sugary drinks, cakes and confectionery. On the other hand, if you bear that pinch of salt (excuse the pun) in mind, some of the basic information is well set out and easy to understand especially as a starting point.
Particularly useful is the introductory explanation of what different nutrients do at http://www.nutrition.org.uk/healthyliving/basics/what-are-nutrients
And there are sections on different diet requirements for different ages - so for example how many servings of starchy foods a pre-schooler should ideally have in a day. The life stages section is at
http://www.nutrition.org.uk/healthyliving/lifestages

Nutritionist resource
This search site has been set up to enable individuals and organisations to find a suitably qualified nutritionist or dietitian within their geographical area. Although primarily aimed at individuals seeking a consultation, it would of course also be useful for schools or childcare settings wanting to hire in advice or training if you haven't had any luck finding one yourself locally. Every nutritionist on the site who has submitted their profile has either submitted a copy of their qualifications and insurance cover, or is registered with a professional body with recognised codes of ethics and practice. Please note that there is a difference between a nutritionist and a dietitian. Both are searchable on this site. There is a useful explanation of the terms and qualifications on the site's FAQ section. If you are looking for a dietitian specifically, please refer to the British Dietetic Association (above).
http://www.nutritionist-resource.org.uk/