No images? Click here In This Issue FOOD FOUNDATIONS APRIL NEWSLETTER Welcome to Food Foundations 2022 How to download your subscription certificate Australian Dietary Guidelines and Australian Guide to Healthy Eating What are the five food groups and why are they important? Eating a rainbow: A guide to selecting fruit and vegetables Menu planning Recipes Events and Training Healthy at Home E-Newsletter Accessing previous Food Foundations e-newsletters Welcome to Food Foundations 2022 Congratulations for continuing to be a part of the Food Foundations program. Your continued subscription enables you to stay informed of the latest requirements in best practice, research and policy around food and nutrition. As per previous years, through the 2022 subscription year the Food Foundations program will focus on four themes. Each theme will include focused discussion, resources and information relating directly to legislative requirements (specifically element 2.1.3) and resources available for subscribers to use. The theme for April - June 2022 is General Nutrition - Back to Basics. Newsletters through this theme will include resources and information relating to the Australian Dietary Guidelines, Get Up and Grow guidelines, nutrition policies relating to National Quality Standards and strategies for food group alternatives, ingredient substitutions and much more. We hope you enjoy this newsletter and the targeted information for your setting. How to download your Food Foundations subscription certificate Remember to download your certificate of subscription to display on your centre wall by clicking on the button below. To download your certificate you must be logged into the subscriber section of the website. To login, please click on the green 'subscribe/login' button located on our main Food Foundations page on our website or click on the button below. Your email to login is the email which this newsletter is sent to. If you do not know your password, click on the 'forgot password' link. Australian Dietary Guidelines and Australian Guide to Healthy Eating The Australian Dietary Guidelines provide evidence based information for healthy Australians on the types and amounts of foods for the five food groups and includes dietary patterns. The aim is to promote health and wellbeing, reduce the risk of diet-related conditions, and reduce the risk of chronic disease. These guidelines do not provide information for special diets or advice for medical conditions. Please speak with your health professional for specific advice. NAQ Nutrition uses the Australian Dietary Guidelines as well as the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating when reviewing ECEC menus, creating resources and providing nutrition education to educators and families. Additional information such as serve sizes, healthy recipes, advice, tips on how to choose nutritious foods and how to achieve a healthy, balanced diet are located on the Eat for Health website, along with additional resources to support educators and families such as healthy eating for babies, children and more. For more information click on the buttons below. What are the five food groups and why are they important? To meet the nutrient requirements for good health your body needs a range of foods from the five food groups. These five food groups make up the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating. This is important as different food groups provide different amounts of nutrients and as children grow they require these nutrients to support them into adulthood. So what are the five food groups?
Eating a rainbow: A guide to selecting fruit and vegetables Eating a variety of brightly coloured fruit and vegetables ensures that you receive a wide variety of nutrients needed to keep you healthy. When selecting fruit and vegetables - fresh is best, eat with the seasons for a great mix of different fruits and vegetables. Eat fruit and vegetables raw, sliced, diced, steamed, or baked, mix in a stir fry…options are only limited by your imagination. Try a new fruit and vegetable each grocery shop to try with the family or with the children at your centre. Make this an activity with the children, ask them to pick a colour, a fruit or vegetable and turn this into a cooking activity or use in artwork. This will increase the exposure to a broader range of foods, increase acceptance and aligns nicely with NQS 2.1.3 for understanding healthy food and nutrition. Some additional tips for offering fruit and vegetables to children.
For more ideas on cooking experiences and for a great fact sheet to share with the families in your centre on eating the rainbow, click the buttons below. Meal Planning The Eat for Health website provides resources that are beneficial for centres when developing a menu. This includes an Eat for Health Educator Guide which includes public health guidelines for educators and consumers. This practical information helps educators to work out the types and amounts of foods that should be served depending on age, gender, body size and activity level. As growing children have different nutritional needs depending on age, the Australian Dietary Guidelines provide information on the amounts needed to achieve and maintain healthy weight, to grow, and develop normally. Additional information relevant to ECEC is the Infant Feeding Guidelines. For information on menu plans for your centre, check out the links below and for meal ideas to share with your families, we have included our newly updated meal ideas fact sheets for the different age groups, starting from 7 months onwards. Recipes As the weather starts to cools down, out come the winter warmer meals. Aim for meals that provide opportunities to include plenty of vegetables and colour such as this soup and stir fry. Events and Training Training Opportunities for ECEC Professionals Food Safety Supervisor Course We provide opportunities for students to complete the course and all assessment in one day at face-to-face training. Keep an eye out for our 2022 courses! Click on the following link for more information on the venue, cost and to register as details become available: Food Safety Supervisor Course for Early Years Settings **NEW** Food Safety Supervisor Recertification Course Food Safety Recertification Course Online Training We offer a suite of online training programs through our partner In Safe Hands. Click on the following links for more information and to register. Level 1 - Nutrition Requirements for Early Years
Educators Level 1 - Safe Food Handling for Early Years Educators Safe Knife Skills Healthy at Home E-newsletterIn this edition Food relief from Jamie's Ministry of Food Workplace Wellbeing Online Series Boost your Recipes Queensland Healthy Kids Menu Boost your Healthy How to access previous Food Foundations e-newslettersDid you know you can access previous Food Foundations e-newsletters on the website. To access newsletters you must be logged into the subscribers section of the website. Click on the link below (https://naqld.org/services/food-foundations/) and then scroll down to 'E-newsletters'. Enjoy! You have received this newsletter because you have supplied NAQ Nutrition with your details. NAQ Nutrition, 12/212 Curtin Avenue West EAGLE FARM, QLD 4009 |