Nutrition

Is it tasty?

It is clear to most that we cannot offer a special Sunday meal every day at our daycare centres. Then how can we meet the demands of a balanced menu for our youngest members when several people are evenly involved in the preparing and offering of the meals and when on average the children attend a daycare centre approximately 3 days a week?

How can we ensure a balanced diet when the warm food is supplied to the daycare centres by a caterer, when the morning and afternoon snacks are prepared by the child minders and parents provide food on other occasions?

The 3 pronged approach of the kihz nutritional guidelines

The nutritional guidelines which were designed for us by the school for nutrition take our specific situation into account. The practical recommendations given in the guidelines address the daycare centres as well as the caterers and the parents (see brochure to be downloaded). Our daycare centres and the caterers have adapted their meals following these recommendations and make sure that all three parties keep to them.

Clear guidelines as to eating behaviour

Eating behaviour also plays a part when dealing with nutrition. For instance, at our kihz Daycare Centres we do not force the children to empty their plates, but we do motivate them to try the food, although we do not force them to eat. Food is not seen as a disciplinary tool, it is neither used as a reward nor as a punishment. The children are gradually involved in helping in the kitchen, setting the table, serving the food and clearing up. They become an active part of the whole process and are allowed to take on responsibility in small steps. All this should contribute to an enjoyable communal meal which should take place in a relaxed atmosphere.

The children might not find every dish, which has been prepared in accordance with the nutritional guidelines, as tasty as the next one. We can not ensure that every day the caterers will succeed in preparing the meals to the personal liking of each child. Likewise the parents might not always succeed in keeping to all the recommendations.

Nutritional guidelines of the kihz Foundation

Mrs Andrea Schrepfer, qualified nutritional advisor HF, was commissioned by the kihz Foundation to devise the nutritional guidelines.

read the kihz nutritional guidelines