Recommendations exist for the food intake of infants and young children in pre-school child care(1, 2). However, pre-school aged children's diets are reported to be low in vitamin A, vitamin C, Fe and Zn and contain high quantities of salt and sugar(1). In Ireland, while ‘Food and Nutrition Guidelines for Pre-schools’ are available(1), these are not mandatory and, therefore, methods to encourage the provision of nutritious food in this setting must be pursued. The ‘Healthy Incentive for Pre-schools’ (HIP) project is an ongoing child care intervention in the Midlands of Ireland which aims to develop and evaluate an incentive scheme to improve pre-school nutrition practices. The aim of this study was to obtain baseline data on the nutrition practices of full day care pre-schools for children aged 3 months to 5 years that had agreed to engage in the HIP project (n 76 of 96 eligible pre-schools). One researcher directly observed and recorded all aspects of nutrition practice in each pre-school over a full day using a structured data collection tool developed for the HIP project. A description of all foods offered was recorded using household measures. A photographic food atlas developed for the HIP project, using foods recommended for pre-school children and recipes from the Irish Health Service Executive ‘3-week menu plan – a resource for pre-schools’, was used to aid data collection(Reference Johnston Molloy, Corish and Kearney3). Ethical approval to carry out the study was obtained from the Irish Health Service Executive Dublin Mid-Leinster and the Dublin Institute of Technology Research Ethics Committees.
Due to changes in pre-schools' eligibility to participate (as directed by the local pre-school inspection team), or in the service offered, baseline data were collected in fifty-eight pre-schools; private (n 39), community (n 19). Data were analysed using SPSS for Microsoft Windows (version 15). Of the forty-three pre-schools that reported having a written healthy eating policy; this was visible in only three services. Fifty-four pre-schools reported having a written menu cycle; however, the cycle length varied widely: 3 week+ (n 28); 1 week (n 13); 2 week (n 7); none (n 6). The table provides information on the baseline nutrition practices observed in pre-schools engaged in the HIP project.
In conclusion, few pre-schools provided the recommended: serving sizes of the main food groups; number of meals and snacks; or drink types. Provision of foods from the top shelf of the Food Pyramid occurred frequently. The type of ‘family style food service’ practice varied and few pre-schools provided recommended feeding utensils. The study results support the need for the development of an incentive scheme to improve nutrition practices within the pre-school setting.
This material is based upon works supported by safe food, the Food Safety Promotion Board, under Grant No. [safe food Grant No. 01–2008]; in association with the Health Service Executive, Ireland.
