Meal Planning & Nutrition

Willl You Provide Meals?

As a child day care provider, you must decide if you are going to provide meals or not, and if so, what meals will you provide. Here are a few points to keep in mind:

• You can require the children to have breakfast before coming. However, this can be difficult for the parents who start work early.
• You can have parents pack lunch for their child since parents know best what their child likes to eat and they have control on the nutrition of the food their child is eating.
• You can provide dinner for those parents who get off work late. Some parents might think this is wonderful since they do not have to worry about feeding their child dinner.
• If you are providing care for infants, you will most likely have the parents bring over bottles of milk to heat up when ready to feed.

Deciding whether to feed meals or not is personal preference and depends on the day care provider. You may decide to give parents the choice of bringing their own meals or providing meals for them.

If You Decide to Provide Meals

Let parents know the times and kinds of meals and snacks you plan to provide for the children -for example, by posting weekly or daily menus - and inform them of anything special in your nutrition program, such as the fact that you do not serve sweets. Most parents will be happy to find a child care provider who is concerned about children's nutrition. Sometimes parents may request special nutritional considerations for their children, such as no sugar or no milk products. If you cannot accommodate the request (for example, a vegetarian diet), the parents may need to supply special meals.

Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP)

If you are licensed or registered, you are eligible for a substantial reimbursement for your child care food expenses under the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). CACFP is a Federal program that provides healthy meals and snacks to children and adults receiving day care. It plays a vital role in improving the quality of child day care and making it more affordable for many low-income families.

CACFP reimburses participating centers and day care homes for their meal costs. It is administered at the Federal level by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The State education or health department administers CACFP, in most States. Independent centers and sponsoring organizations enter into agreements with their State agencies to operate the program.

For more information on the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) click here.

Nutrition

Proper nutrition in childhood can reinforce lifelong eating habits that contribute to your children's overall well being and help them to grow up to their full potential and a healthy life.

The Food Pyramid shows how everybody can make food choices for a healthful diet as described in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. A special Food Guide Pyramid was developed to help you teach your preschoolers what to eat to help them grow and stay healthy. The Pyramid divides food into five major food groups: grains, vegetables, fruits, milk, and meat. Each of these food groups provides some, but not all, of the nutrients and energy children need. No one food group is more important than another. For good health and proper growth, children need to eat a variety of different foods every day.

All meals should include servings from the five major food groups:

1. Grains

• Look for "whole" before the grain name on the list of ingredients
• Whole grain bread, cereal crackers, rice, pasta

2. Vegetables

• Eat more dark green veggies
• Eat more orange veggies
• Eat more dry beans and peas

3. Fruits

• Eat a variety of fruit
• Choose fresh, frozen, canned or dried fruit
• Go easy on fruit juices

4. Milk

• Go low-fat or fat-free when you choose milk, yogurt, and other milk products
• If you don't consume milk, choose lactose-free products or other calcium sources such as fortified foods and beverages

5. Meat & Beans

• Choose low-fat or lean meats and poultry
• Bake it, broil it, or grill it
• Vary your protein routine - choose more fish, beans, peas, nuts, and seeds

Know the limits on fats, sugars, and salt (sodium)

• Make most of your fat sources from fish, nuts, and vegetable oils
• Limit solid fats like butter, stick margarine, shortening, and lard, as well as foods that contain these
• Check the Nutrition Facts label to keep saturated fats, trans fats, and sodium low
• Choose food and beverages low in addes sugars. Added sugars contribute calories with few, if any, nutrients

To find out more about the Food Pyramid and specific food requirements based on age and physical activity, visit the USDA Food Pyramid website.

For a list of sample food recipes for your child day care, click here.