$4.9 million grant to improve nutrition in Australian childcare services
Hunter Medical Research Institute(Hunter Medical Research Institute)
Newy 87.8 FM – A $4.9 million research project led by University of Newcastle and Hunter Medical Research Institute researchers will work to improve food and nutrition in Australian childcare services.
The project, funded by a Medical Research Future Fund grant through the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care, aims to help the more than 90 per cent of Australian Early Childhood Education and Care services struggling to meet national nutrition guidelines.
Researchers will work with 10 NSW Health Promotion Units, with the potential to influence the nutritional quality of more than 500,000 meals served to Australian children every week.
University of Newcastle behavioural scientist Professor Luke Wolfenden, of HMRI's Population Health Research program, said diet in early childhood shapes lifelong eating habits and influences the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease and some cancers later in life.
Currently fewer than 10 per cent of Australian childcare services provide food that fully meets nutrition standards, and less than 5 per cent of children consume the recommended serves of vegetables.
Co-investigator Associate Professor Rachel Sutherland said childcare settings offered a powerful opportunity because many children consumed about half of their daily nutritional intake while in care.
Health Promotion Units across NSW will each undertake two improvement cycles, generating up to 20 trials over four years. Strategies will be co-designed with local childcare services and health professionals.
Join the discussion on Facebook.
