The Importance of Nutrition at Thornhill Park
Nutrition is a key factor to living a healthy and happy life, as well as helping young bodies and minds grow. Aspire Thornhill Park takes nutrition seriously and always serves up the yummiest food for the lucky children in their care. Making food also brings people together, which is why the service also teaches children how to make basic foods and enjoy eating meals together.
Getting all essential vitamins and minerals sets your child up for developmental growth both physically and mentally. Results from consecutive Australian Health Surveys show children are not consuming enough vegetables. Only 6% of children aged 2-17 years old eat the recommended amount!
Developing healthy eating habits during childhood is crucial for cultivating positive dietary practices that contribute to preventing adverse health effects in both the early years and later stages of life.
Long daycare centres are well-positioned to enhance children's consumption of vegetables by incorporating more of them into snacks and meals. Additionally, these centres play a vital role in fostering children's familiarity with vegetables through interactive play and educational experiences.
The ABS has found around 72% of children aged two-three years regularly attend formal care, such as long day care. These children spend an average of 16 hours in care every week. This means that Aspire provides a majority of daily meals and snacks to children in our care that attend for eight hours a day. Children that attend services that serve cooked meals, such as Aspire Thornhill Park, will receive 40-60% of their daily food intake from the centre (Lewis and Miller, 1999). This includes key foods like fruit and vegetables.
Aspire Early Education and Kindergarten Thornhill Park has an incredible chef team that create all the centre’s meals and snacks. Headed up by chef Anthony, the team always creates nutritious dishes that cater to a variety of diets.
Room 1 recently got the opportunity to make mini pizzas from scratch! The junior chefs helped put a range of healthy toppings on, such as cheese and capsicum. It helped the children learn about the pizza-making process, as well as give them the opportunity to decide what to eat on their pizza.
Thornhill Park gives toddler-aged children the agency to serve their own food when it comes to mealtimes. Room 6 children took charge to choose their favourite meals, practice serving food with tongs and navigate the use of utensils. Taking steps in their independence allows little ones to build valuable life skills and grow their autonomy.
Nutrition at Aspire Thornhill Park is a key part of instilling healthy habits in the children in our care. From making food fun, to the act of eating together, Aspire celebrates nurturing a healthy relationship with food.
