Child Food Futures – A resource for knowledge sharing among caregivers who influence the health and nutrition of young children.

“We need to prioritize how children are fed just as much as we do ‘ what’ they are fed.”
Published on August 8, 2017August 8, 2017 by lmann20
“The children love helping me and so that’ s one thing we do find really fun to do together –we’ ll find something out of the kids cooking book or something that they could make themselves.”
Published on July 18, 2017August 8, 2017 by lmann20
“I hope that by eating together at the table my children will learn those good habits that will follow them throughout life.”
Published on July 18, 2017August 8, 2017 by lmann20
“I hope that as my kids grow older … that they think about [food] more as fuel for their bodies and their health and sort of connect it to other parts of their life.”
Published on July 9, 2017July 27, 2017 by lmann20
“It’s the struggles that every working parent has … trying to get children fed in a reasonable time with food that’s healthy that they ’ll eat.”
Published on July 9, 2017July 27, 2017 by lmann20
“What if it is something that he just wouldn’t want to eat? How would I talk him into it?”
Published on July 9, 2017August 8, 2017 by lmann20

A resource for knowledge sharing among caregivers who influence the health and nutrition of young children.

Child Food Futures in Nova Scotia

Published on July 18, 2017August 16, 2017 by lmann20

Nova Scotia has long been concerned about the health and welfare of young children in child care centres. However, with increasing rates of chronic disease in the province and more knowledge about the influences on… More

Nutrition Standards in Child Care Project

Published on July 18, 2017August 16, 2017 by lmann20

The Nutrition Standards in Child Care Project (NSCCP) began in 2012. This was a research project that wanted to see if the Standards and Guidelines for Food and Nutrition in regulated Child Care Settings helped to… More

Sharing Stories: Storytelling to Inspire

Published on July 18, 2017August 16, 2017 by lmann20

The vignettes in the Sharing Stories video are some of the stories we heard along the way, and represent to us a reminder that, although we may individually support young children in different ways as… More

Responsive Feeding

Published on July 17, 2017April 9, 2018 by lmann20

Responsive feeding, recognized by health agencies worldwide, refers to the reciprocal interaction between the child and caregiver. The child can signal their hunger of fullness and the caregiver responds in an appropriate, respectful and supportive way. The feeding environment is calm and comfortable. The caregiver provides healthy and aesthetically pleasing meal and snacks, models healthy eating, supports the child to self-feed and uses subtle verbal cues that are focused on internal hunger or fullness, rather that external ones. For example the caregiver may say, ‘do you feel full or do you feel like you are still hungry?’ rather than ‘eat all your meal so you will be a big boy or girl’. Food is not used as a reward nor a punishment.

Caregivers should also support a positive social environment for meal and snack times; listen to the stories the children will share and share stories with them. Isn’t this what we all most enjoy about sharing meals with others? We believe that these positive memories will support a lifelong healthy relationship with food.