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The guide explains why healthy eating matters, profiles current health status and dietary differences across ages, including guidance for birth to 12 months. It provides step-by-step menu planning, detailed food group recommendations, portion-size approaches, reading food labels, and advice on drinks, fat, salt, sugar, additives, and fortified foods. It also includes strategies to encourage children to eat well, address picky eating, ensure food safety and hygiene, and offer sustainable, balanced meal and snack plans with tools and checklists.",{"@graph":69,"@context":126},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":35,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/eat-better-start-better-a-practical-guide-voluntary-food-and-drink-guidelines-for-early-years-settings-in-england/401223/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/eat-better-start-better-a-practical-guide-voluntary-food-and-drink-guidelines-for-early-years-settings-in-england/401223.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"asba","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-29","2026-09-27",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":14},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118,122],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Who is this guide for and what is it designed to help Early Years settings do?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It supports Early Years settings in England to meet children’s nutritional requirements and encourage children to eat well, building practitioners’ knowledge, skills, and confidence.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What ages does the guide cover and how are dietary needs addressed?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"It covers guidance from birth up to 12 months and for children aged one to four years, including how healthy, balanced, nutritious diets differ by age group.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What practical steps does the guide provide for planning meals, snacks, and drinks?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It offers seven steps for planning healthy meals, snacks and drinks, plus at-a-glance guideline summaries for each meal and snack.",{"name":123,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":124},"How does the guide recommend encouraging children to eat well in Early Years settings?",{"text":125,"@type":113},"It outlines developing and implementing a food policy, communication with children and families, creating a supportive eating environment, handling celebrations and home food, supporting fussy eaters, and maintaining food safety and hygiene.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":128,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":130,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":132,"site_id":62},401223,1790673490,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":135},{"doc_id":132,"user_id":136,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":137,"doc_module":4,"category_id":34,"category_name":35,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":138,"file_id":139,"file_url":140,"file_type":141,"file_size":142,"view_count":14,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":143,"language":144,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":145,"faqs":146,"seo_title":147,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":148,"read_time":149},3985747872567,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","Eat better, start better  \nA practical guide  \nVoluntary food and drink guidelines for Early Years settings in England  \n[actionforchildren.org.uk](actionforchildren.org.uk)  \nAcknowledgements  \nThis practical guide to the Voluntary Food and Drink Guidelines for Early Years Settings in England was first published in January 2012 and updated 2017.  \nIt was developed following the recommendations of the Advisory Panel for Food and Nutrition in Early Years, and was produced to support early years settings in England to meet the nutritional requirements of children in their care, and encourage them to eat well.  \nAction for Children would like to thank the Children’s Food Trust and the members of the External Reference Group involved in the development of this practical guide. The sharing of their experience, expertise and providing their recipes provides an invaluable resource to all Early Years providers to give children the foundations for a healthy future.  \nPhotos of children by Karla Gowlett, with thanks to Katharine Bruce Community Nursery, part of the London Early Years Foundation. Additional photos of children with thanks to NCMA (now PACEY), NDNA and Pre-school Learning Alliance. Meals and snacks prepared and photographed by Helena Little (Brave Design) and Erica Hocking. Additional photos with kind permission from the Caroline Walker Trust.  \n2  \nContents  \nForeword 4  \nSection 01  \nWhy healthy eating matters for young children 5  \nWhy has this guide been developed? 6 Who is this guide for? 6 Why is a healthy, balanced and nutritious diet essential 7  \nfor young children?  \n\n| What is the current health status of young children in England? | 7 |\n| --- | --- |\n| What is a healthy, balanced, nutritious diet for children aged one to four years? | 7 |\n| How does a healthy, balanced diet for children aged one to four years differ from that needed by older children and adults? | 8 |\n| What about food and drink for children from birth up to 12 months old? | 8 |\n| Breastfeeding | 8 |\n| Vitamin supplements and the Healthy Start scheme | 9 |\n| Nursery Milk Scheme | 9 |\n| Physical activity | 9 |\n| Section 02 |  |\n| Planning menus | 10 |\n| Seven steps for planning healthy meals, snacks and drinks | 11 |\n| Section 03 |  |\n| The food and drink guidelines | 12 |\n| Understanding the food and drink guidelines | 14 |\n| How to use portion size information | 14 |\n| Summary of the four food groups | 15 |\n| Guidelines for potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and other starchy carbohydrates | 16 |\n\nGuidelines for fruit and vegetables 18 Guidelines for beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins 20 Guidelines for dairy and alternatives 22 Guidelines for desserts, puddings and cakes 24 Guidelines for drinks 26 Guidelines for fat 27  \nGuidelines for salt 28 Guidelines for sugar 29 How to read food labels 30 Iron and zinc 31 Food additives 32 Ready-made meals and take-aways 32 Fortified foods 33  \nSection 04  \nAt a glance: Food and drink guidelines  \nfor each meal and snack 34  \nBalancing lunch and tea 35 Breakfast at a glance 36 Mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks at a glance 38 Lunch at a glance 40 Tea at a glance 42  \nSection 05  \nHow to encourage children to eat well 44  \nDeveloping a food policy and putting it into practice 45 Communicating with children and families 45 The eating environment and social aspects of meal times 46 Celebrations and special occasions 47 Providing food for all 48 Encouraging fussy eaters to eat well 51 Food brought in from home 52 Learning about and through food 53 Cooking with children 54 Food safety and hygiene 55 Sustainability 55 Protecting children’s health – maintaining a healthy weight 55 Providing food for infants aged six to 12 months 56  \nSection 06  \nPractical tools and resources:  \nputting the guidelines into practice 60  \nEvaluating and showing others your approach to 61  \nfood and drink provision  \nEarly Years Code of Practice for Food and Drink 62 Code of Practice Checklist 63 Menu Planning Checklis","cbCaiboIFkJgiC7H","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiboIFkJgiC7H","pdf",5400344,86,"English","# Foreword\n# Section 01 - Why healthy eating matters for young children\n## Why has this guide been developed? Who is this guide for?\n## Healthy diets by age, from birth to one to four years\n# Section 02 - Planning menus\n## Seven steps for planning healthy meals, snacks and drinks\n# Section 03 - The food and drink guidelines\n## Understanding guidelines and portion size information\n## Four food groups and specific guideline chapters\n# Section 04 - At a glance: Food and drink guidelines for each meal and snack\n## Breakfast, snacks, lunch, tea\n# Section 05 - How to encourage children to eat well\n## Food policy, communication, environment, fussy eaters, food safety\n# Section 06 - Practical tools and resources\n## Code of Practice, checklists, nutrient framework, example menus, glossary\n# Section 07 - Where to find additional information\n## References","[{\"question\":\"Who is this guide for and what is it designed to help Early Years settings do?\",\"answer\":\"It supports Early Years settings in England to meet children’s nutritional requirements and encourage children to eat well, building practitioners’ knowledge, skills, and confidence.\"},{\"question\":\"What ages does the guide cover and how are dietary needs addressed?\",\"answer\":\"It covers guidance from birth up to 12 months and for children aged one to four years, including how healthy, balanced, nutritious diets differ by age group.\"},{\"question\":\"What practical steps does the guide provide for planning meals, snacks, and drinks?\",\"answer\":\"It offers seven steps for planning healthy meals, snacks and drinks, plus at-a-glance guideline summaries for each meal and snack.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the guide recommend encouraging children to eat well in Early Years settings?\",\"answer\":\"It outlines developing and implementing a food policy, communication with children and families, creating a supportive eating environment, handling celebrations and home food, supporting fussy eaters, and maintaining food safety and hygiene.\"}]","Eat better, start better - A practical guide - Voluntary food and drink guidelines for Early Years settings in England | PDF",1790517877,217]