Filed under: Nurseries
Over 70% of parents believe kids tend to get more infections when hygiene in the nursery is poor, but only 7% claim hygiene in their child’s nursery is outstanding. These are some of the results revealed in a recent parents’ survey, run by GreenKiddie.co.uk. The survey is part of GreenKiddie’s national campaign “Close2Nature” for better children’s health and well-being in nurseries. Close2Nature campaign aims to provide easy-to-use tips and advice for daycare providers and help them adopt our eco-friendly strategy for their premises in order to help with improving children’s health.
For this campaign GreenKiddie is partnering with Change4Life initiative run by the Department of Health, and focuses on 5 main areas:
- Provide better food and nutrition at nurseries
- Reduce toxics in the daycare premises
- Help children stay active
- Improve hygiene in daycare premises
- Help nurseries become more eco-friendly
There are over 850,000 children under 5 years of age in the UK attending either part-time or full-time daycare (DCSN, 2009). This means that nurseries’ environment plays crucial role for children’s health. Making nurseries more eco-friendly and encouraging them to reduce chemicals and toxics at their premises will promote better baby and children’s health and well-being, reducing the infections and straightening their immunity.”
The survey, based on the 514 parents’ replies, reveals that 18% of kids in nurseries are not having their 5 a day portions of fruits and vegetables, based on food being served at the nursery. Fish, helping children’s brain development, is being served on a weekly basis in only half of the nurseries, and 17% of kids are not being served the extremely important for kids’ growth high in protein food like meat and eggs. Some 15% of nurseries provide kids with very unsatisfactory amount of milk and diary products during their 10-hour stay at the premises, so kids are not able to get the calcium they need for this age. As little as 2 out of 100 nurseries serve organic food in every meal, where 15% of nurseries have never sourced organic produce for the kids. Home-made food has never been served to every tenth nursery, and in these cases processed food is what kids eat on a regular basis. Every third nursery adds sugar and/or salt in kids’ food, and only 4% follow the guidelines for avoiding salt in cooking for kids under 3-years old.
The eco-friendly efforts are outstanding in only 3 out of 100 nurseries, and are qualified as poor and unsatisfactory in 15% of cases. It looks like great percentage of nurseries are doing great when it comes to recycling, reusing and using eco-friendly craft-materials (42%), although improvement others is needed. When it comes to soaps, washing powders and cleaning materials about 20% will not even try to be eco-friendly. Most of the above soaps, cleaning sprays and washing powders contain harsh chemicals which not only reflect the environment, but are also toxic and irritating for the sensitive kids’ skin. Around the same percent of nurseries (20-25%) are not making any efforts to use BPA-Free baby/kids food equipment, biodegradable or cloth nappies (although in most of them parents are advised to provide nappies in their choice). About the same percent of nursery staff are willing to “go green”, but don’t seem to have enough information and knowledge on how to do that, according to parents.
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February 3, 2010
The Better Nursery Food Now Campaign, which calls on the Government to implement nutritional standards for nursery school food, has now launched a Facebook campaign to spread the word and engage mums and dads in supporting. The campaign is being run and promoted by The Soil Association and Organix, the baby and toddler food company.
The Better Nursery Food Campaign aims to increase the pressure on Government by highlighting examples of nurseries where parents are dissatisfied with the nutritional standards of nursery food. Whether it’s a nursery serving junk food, or food with artificial additives and e-numbers, or poor food generally, we are asking parents and nursery workers to post their experiences on the Facebook page and sign the petition to take to government.
The experiences from mums and dads will enable the Better Nursery Food Now campaigns team to step up the pressure on Government to put in place nutritional standards that will cover all nurseries, guaranteeing better food in nurseries.
Just to remind you that, according to the report Georgie Porgie Pudding and Pie – exposing the truth about nursery food:
- There are no clear nutritional standards for UK nurseries.
- Some nurseries spend as little as 25p per meal, per child.
- Colourings and additives, not allowed in manufactured foods for children, were regularly being permitted in nurseries.
- Foods banned or restricted in primary and secondary schools – like chips, sweets and chocolate – are still regularly served in nurseries.
- No Government Department was willing to take responsibility for the quality and monitoring of nursery food.
BBC 1 Panorama programme on Monday 25 January at 8.30pm will be investigating “What Is Really In Our Kid’s Food”. The programme has discovered that one in five children starts school already overweight and, according to the latest research, children who are fat by five are likely to stay that way. Shelley Jofre investigates the food being dished up to pre-schoolers at nurseries and at home. There’s a rapidly growing market in ready meals specifically for toddlers, but are they really a healthy option? The programme looks behind the marketing claims
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January 20, 2010
Babies and children require empathy and respect for their feelings to help them learn to feel safe and secure. Attachment Parenting is all about forming and nurturing strong connections between parents and their children. Attachment Parenting challenges us as parents to treat our children with respect and kindness, and to develop our relationship with them the way we’d like them to relate to others.
According to attachment theory, the child forms a strong emotional bond with parents during childhood with lifelong consequences. Sensitive and emotionally available parenting helps the child to form a secure attachment style. Less sensitive and emotionally available parenting or neglect of the child’s needs may result in insecure forms of attachment style, which is a risk factor for many mental health problems.
Starting from the very beginning, you can build the foundation of trust and empathy by understanding and responding appropriately to the needs of your newborn baby. Babies communicate their needs in many ways including body movements, facial expressions, and crying. Building a strong attachment with a baby involves not only responding consistently to his physical needs, but spending enjoyable time interacting with him and thus meeting his emotional needs as well. So in these early days it is very important to respond to your child with sensitivity.
Attachment Parenting Principles
1. Attachment Parenting starts from the birth. So try forming an early connection to your child, using the first hours after birth to bond with your newborn, having your baby “room in” with you after a hospital birth, and enjoying the skin-to-skin contact – the most gentle and memorable first mother-and-baby hug.
2. Respond quickly to your baby’s cries and know that you can’t “spoil” her by feeding, kissing and holding her whenever she needs you to. This is biological and emotional need for the baby to get your attention and be soothed. What is more natural that following your mother instincts?
3. Breastfeed exclusively and on baby’s demand for at least 6 months followed by the weaning of solids when your child is ready combined with continued nursing. Be aware that it is natural and normal for children to be breastfed for well over one year.
4. Promote closeness and physical connection by wearing your baby in a sling.
5. Separation fears? – Intense fears of separation will naturally subside as the child matures. It may take considerably longer for more sensitive children to be comfortable in the care of non-parental adults. Follow the child’s cues and do not force children to accept strangers or expect them to overcome stranger/separation anxiety before they’re ready.
6. Use gentle discipline techniques. You need to make clear difference between discipline and punishment and to avoid physical or shame-inducing punishment.
7. Try to be flexible when it comes to parenting techniques – we are all human beings, learning every day. You should know that what worked last week might not work this week, and that your child is different from the others. Putting some extra effort to understand and educate yourself about parenting and a battle half-won.
8. Understand that real “quality time” with your kid is every second spent in cuddling, reading, playing, learning or just being together, and not short frantic bursts of “fun” activities.
9. Nurturing is of vast importance in your child! Those early years at the day care might be a necessity for some families or single parents, but if you can afford it, spent at least the first two years raising your child at home. Be a proud to be “stay-at-home-mother” and consider it the most important thing you could possibly do right now. You want to raise your children yourself, not hand them over to someone else to do the job. Your career will be still there for you in a couple of year’s time.
10. Go out of the timed regime and leave your baby to lead you in his own routine. Understand, following and meet your child’s needs. Know that your child has his own schedule for physical, emotional and social development, toilet learning and independence issues rather than trying to force him into an “expected” time frame. Understand that by meeting your child’s needs during infancy and toddlerhood you are encouraging the development of a healthy, happy, independent person.
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October 14, 2009
Swine flu is thought to be spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people. Children under five are at a higher risk, along with pregnant women and elderly.
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July 16, 2009
Foods such as crisps, chips and biscuits are being given to children in small percentage of the UK nurseries, revealed recent research from governing body Ofsted. Junk or processed foods, banned or restricted in schools, still appear on nursery some menus. A parallel survey indicated that some nurseries in England and Wales are serving processed foods, sugary drinks and foods high in additives, salt and fat.
According to England’s Department for Children, Schools and Families, it is a legal requirement in all childcare settings, including childminders, nurseries and day care, that where children are provided with meals, snacks or drinks, these must be healthy, balanced and nutritious.
But what happens in practice? – A small per cent of UK nurseries were found to be spending as little as 25p a day. Oil-rich fish such as salmon, or sardines were only served in 8% of them.
Parents expect the food their children eat at nursery to meet regulatory and nutritional guidelines, and not to include additives unsuitable for young children. But one fifth of the parents, taking part in a recent survey, described the food at their nursery as poor or mediocre.
Organic foods are more nutritious, and they contain higher levels of vitamin C and essential minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and iron as well as antioxidants important for skin, cancer-fight and overall health. Cooking with organic ingredients is the only way to reduce the chemicals your baby or toddler is exposed to. Go to Why Go Organic section for further information: http://www.greenkiddie.co.uk/Goorganic.php, and get some homemade healthy recipe ideas here: http://www.greenkiddie.co.uk/Recipes.php
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June 30, 2009
