How nutritious is nursery food in Buckinghamshire?

Date: 18-03-2010

Providing healthy and nutritious food for young children is a key aim of Daycare Nurseries in Buckinghamshire - so Trading Standards have been putting them to the test.

As part of a national survey our Daycare Nurseries were invited to take part and 25 volunteered. We then selected 10 participants to reflect the County’s diversity.

Participants collected sample meals that would be given to a three year old for a whole week including drinks.

These were sent to our Public Analyst who analysed the food for Fat, Saturated Fats, Sugars, Energy, Carbohydrate, Protein, Salt, Fibre, Calcium, Iron and Zinc.

The portion weights were recorded and the results of the nutritional analysis (note 1) and were analysed against the Caroline Walker Trust standards for children in day care. (note 2.)

Summary of Buckinghamshire results

• All nurseries who took part provided the correct serving sizes of their meals
• Six nurseries provided adequate energy
• All nurseries supplied adequate protein in their food
• All nurseries food contained a little too much sugar
• All nurseries failed to meet the requirement for iron. This can be rectified with the inclusion of meat, fish etc as part of the evening meal
• All but one nursery’s food was low in zinc
• All nurseries provided enough calcium. This is due to the inclusion of milk as a drink and other dairy foods across the menus
• Six nurseries were able to produce food to meet the stringent guideline for salt
• Half of the nurseries provided oily fish once a week, which is the recommended level

Bill Chapple, Deputy Leader of Buckinghamshire County Council said: “We all want to thank the daycare nurseries who took part in this comprehensive and time consuming survey. All of the participating nurseries did well. This report is another tool parents can use when selecting the most appropriate day care for their children.”

Rebecca Kaya, Trading Standards Officer and project co-ordinator said: “The level of detail obtained from having samples of the nursery food is immense. Food samples gave information on portion sizes and the precise nutrient levels of the food given to the children which would not have been obtained from questionnaire data alone. The key messages for parents and childcarers to come from this project are;”

• Fat is Good! Unsaturated fats are needed by very young children
• Give a diet higher in Fat for under 5’s than for over 5’s and use full fat milk for the under 5’s
• Cook with healthier oils such as olive oil or sunflower oil
• Young children have high nutritional needs relative to their size. Kilo for kilo they require a more nutritionally dense diet than at any other time of life. The food they have provided to them needs to be high in calories to ensure that they have enough energy for growth and development coupled with the energy needed for high levels of activity
• The government recommends that all children under 5 have vitamin drops to prevent vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D comes from exposing the skin to sunshine rather than from food, however as children at the nursery has suntan lotion applied before they play outside, they won’t be receiving vitamin D. To improve this:
  
• Seek advice on vitamin supplements from health visitor or GP
• Use margarine which has vitamin D added
• Give oily fish once a week such as salmon, sardines, mackerel, or pilchards