In Western Australia, centre-based and Family Day Care services serve approximately 85,680 children aged 0 to 5 years.
Edith Cowan University (ECU) has been awarded a $977,278 grant from Western Australian state government agency Healthway to develop a best practice guide to address a critical gap in the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) food environment.
The 2023 childcare subsidy report shows almost 50% of children from birth to 5 years old attend centre-based care for between 27 to 38 hours weekly, making these centres primary food providers during the first 2,000 days of life that are critical for brain development and establishing lifelong eating patterns.
In Western Australia, centre-based and Family Day Care services serve approximately 85,680 children aged 0 to 5 years. This highlights the critical need to optimise the food environments at centre-based care to positively impact a child's brain development, learning ability and physical health in the short and long term.
"Currently, there are no prescribed guidelines to ensure consistent food quality across all ECEC services. However, limited data collected indicates 90% of metropolitan services are failing to meet 50% of the Australian Dietary Guidelines for all food groups when providing meals to children," ECU senior lecturer Dr Ros Sambell, Senior Lecturer, ECU, and Chair of the National Nutrition Network for ECEC, said.
The National Nutrition Network for ECEC was formed in 2018 to identify and address critical gaps in the food environments in ECEC settings. The Network emerged in response to research highlighting significant opportunities to enhance nutritional environments during children's crucial developmental years.
"Despite being a highly regulated sector, the lack of a best practice guide, education and training support, makes it challenging for ECEC services and Assessment and Rating Officers to accurately assess the quality of food provided nationwide."
This grant represents the next logical step in addressing these critical nutritional gaps. The Guide being developed by Dr Sambell and her team will be designed for integration into existing regulatory frameworks. With the support of Assessment and Rating Officers, the Guide will be used across ECEC settings, facilitating consistent assessment and improvements, based on the current evidence for best practice to achieve nourishing food environments in ECEC.
"The Guide will also serve as a practical, accessible resource for ECEC services and policymakers and will provide straightforward principles, helping ECEC providers implement best practices," Dr Sambell said.
"The Guide will assist in integrating policies and serve as a framework for ECEC nutrition policies. It can be adapted by other organisations to ensure consistent, high-quality food practices across the state and can be scaled for national use."
Dr Sambell noted that the Guide will be the first of its kind in Australia and informed through a significant consultation process, inviting critical stakeholders to inform development. This will include ECEC services, allied health groups, registered nutritionist and dietitians, food allergy experts, cultural representatives and other government agents.
The Guide will be made available in electronic format, and will include food environment considerations across metro, regional and remote communities.
ECU successfully received a grant through Healthway's Healthy Communities Program, which provides funding for projects that focus on the health and wellbeing of children and young people.
