Health and joy from food - meal recommendations for early childhood education and care

Abstract

HEALTH AND JOY FROM FOOD meal recommendations for early childhood education and care provide general guidelines for health-promoting meals and food education in early childhood education and care. Meals and food education are part of the pedagogical activities and holistic learning about wellbeing in early childhood education and care. These recommendations based on the National core curriculum for early childhood education and care introduce readers to good practices and provide tips for delivering, monitoring and evaluating food education. Enduring taste preferences and eating habits are created in the early childhood. Tasty, colourful, health-promoting and versatile food served at the right time brings the children joy of food and improves their health. As children and adults have their meals together, the children are provided with an important model of a nutritionally adequate diet and good table manners that are considerate for the others sitting around the same table. This National Nutrition Council recommendation is intended for municipalities and early childhood education and care providers, early childhood education and care units, those providing catering services for children, homes and students of the field. All children have a right to food that promotes their health and wellbeing and positive mealtime experiences. Let us share the joy of food!