August 2013: Question 1
The results of this study show that the average vegetable intake score for participating daycares was less than half of that recommended by the Healthy Eating Index (2.26/5 for vegetable total, and 0.2/5 for dark green, orange vegetables, and legumes), indicating room for improvement. If you were nutrition director for a daycare, how might you plan to incorporate more vegetables into snacks and meals in the early childhood setting to ensure that the children are getting adequate nutrients? What barriers might you face?
posted by Aria Drexler @ 9:37 PM
21 comments
21 Comments:
I would blend cooked veggies into purees and add it to the regular food. It could be added to fruit smoothies, mac and cheese, just about anything.
I would introduce a new fresh veggie for month and constantly talk about it, let the kids pass it around and touch it and smell it, then let them color it. Tasting it would be a big build up for the last snack of the day. The veggies could be cut into fun shapes and sizes. The kids that liked the veggie and ate their entire portion would get to go play outside. Hopefully the reluctant eaters will be encouraged to eat the snack so they could go play. I would repeat the taste testing a couple times a week until the kids were familiar with the veggie.
The children that are picky eaters that moan and groan over the new veggies would be asked to eat three bites before they could complain. Hopefully with time the kids would feel comfortable with the new taste and start to like it.
I was just able to help plan the menu for ISU's Turner Hall day care and was told that they enjoy the steamed vegetable blends that are served in the dining centers. I have to say steamed vegetables are much more inviting than mushy canned vegetables. Having steamed vegetables would be one suggestion. Also, I assisted Angela with her thesis on incorporating pureed vegetables into spaghetti sauce. It went over pretty well, so I would suggest attempting to hide vegetables in certain products. Legumes would be a tough goal to meet. However, I do think that hummus is becoming more popular with kids especially paired with some carrot sticks. The barrier would be just kids being kids. They are picky at that age and sometimes parents enable their children to be like that. At diabetes camp we enforced the 2-bite rule so that could be something to try out.
I would make trying new vegetables more fun for the children by having a vegetable of the day. Each day for afternoon snack, there would be a new vegetable to try and a game or a fun activity to go along with it.
Planting a garden with the children may also be a fun way to increase the curiosity of vegetables and children would be more likely to try things that they had a hand in growing.
Also, offering children vegetables at each meal is important. It takes children up to 20 times to actually like a food so continuing to offer vegetables is important. Ellyn Satter has wonderful suggestions of getting children to eat and the practices for children's meal times.
Finally, providing parents with some take home education for increasing their child's willingness to try foods and eating healthy foods may be beneficial.
Joy, I really like your ideas, especially touching and seeing the vegetable and being able to learn about it. Reminds me a lot of the show Jamie Oliver did in the US where he introduced elementary school children to common veggies they had never seen (potatoes, carrots, etc.).
Also seeing some great ideas about hiding vegetables, a two or three-bite rule, and having a vegetable of the day. These are all great ways to get children comfortable with trying new things.
Carly, I like that you mentioned hummus as an incentive to eat legumes. I know a lot of kids that would be willing to eat hummus like they would eat ranch dressing.
I think that I would first try to have a vegetable available to the children for every meal. I like Joy's idea about the vegetables being in fun shapes. I do think this may help with the kids willingness to eat the vegetables. I personally think that hiding vegetables in food should come as a last resort. Getting kids to like raw or steamed vegetables should be the goal. After Diabetes Camp I realize how picky some kids are so hiding the vegetables in other foods may be reality but I feel that every kids should have to at least try the vegetable at each meal.
I like Alyssa's idea about providing some take home education for parents because habits start at home.
Sarah Swanson said....
I would offer them various dips (black bean, humms, etc.) to increase legume requirements as well as make raw veggies more inviting. I would also try sneaking them into smoothies or things like that since the flavors all just blend together. Barriers that you would face are that children tend to be picky and it can be hard to get them to try new things. I would try to teach them about the different veggies and maybe have them prepare something themselves if possible. I think that if the kids got directly involved they would be more interested in the food.
Sarah Swanson said...
I like Alyssa's idea of planting a garden with the kids. That is a great way to get them to learn about food and become more interested in different veggies.
I know that a huge barrier for fresh vegetables can be cost and storage. It can be expensive to purchase fresh vegetables because they go bad quickly. Most day cares do not have large kitchens and walk in coolers like schools do. Many operate with a standard kitchen refrigerator. Therefore, shelf stable products tend to be used more frequently.
If I were a nutrition director for a daycare, I would enroll in the Child and Adult Care Food Program. This is a program similar to the NSLP. They have requirements for types of food served at each meal, and they reimburse the day care for meals served. This would help with the costs related to purchasing fresh foods and provide a standard for the types of foods that I would be allowed to serve.
I agree with Alyssa's idea about planting a garden with the children. They may be more inclined to eat the vegetables when they have had a part in growing or preparing them. In the past, Day Care Resources has provided seed packets to their day care providers along with recipes. The providers then sent in picture of the children planting/tending to/eating the vegetables.
I also agree with Beth that hiding vegetables should be a last resort. While this is a great way to get children to eat their vegetables, it does not increase the likelihood that they will like or choose to eat them in the future.
I think the first and best thing to do is to have a veggie option with each meal so the kids get used to seeing them. Maybe weekly the vegetables would switch off every other day so the kids become more familiar with them and willing to try them. Then the next week could have two new vegetables for them to try. Also, it would be important to encourage the kids to try them each day and go over what the vegetables will be at the beginning of the week and make it a part of the lesson plan to teach the kids about the vegetables for the week.
The barriers would be cost and acceptance. It's hard to include foods that the kids might just throw away each day so really working with them to try the vegetables is important.
I like the idea of planting a garden, that would be a great learning tool and resource for the kids and teachers. I also like Sarah's idea of having dips to reach the legume requirements. Also, Courtney you made a good point by signing up for the Child and Adult Care Food Program to help with costs. As a director it would be important to know what resources are available to you to help out your daycare site.
I like the idea of incorporating pureed vegetables into meals at Day Care Centers. For instance, a macaroni and cheese that uses pureed squash or carrots would be a familiar dish for children. Another option would be to experiment with different preparation techniques to see what method the children take to the best. I think it would be difficult to overcome the picky eaters that are so prevalent in that setting. Allowing the children to participate in the preparation and selection of vegetables would be a good way to overcome that.
I think having the kids participate in gardening would be a perfect idea! The kids would then go home and tell their parents all about which could lead to a chain reaction.
There are so many different ways to include more vegetables into the menu. It is important, like some others have stated, to offer vegetables with meals. If they are always there it becomes normal and children are more likely to try it. Also making things more fun is a great way to get kids to eat new foods. Having different dips or fun shapes makes it seem fun and helps decrease the "gross" factor. Another simple way to increase consumption is adding pureed vegetables to sauces or even something as simple as adding shredded vegetables to meat. Sometimes simply adding cheese or a sauce to vegetables increases consumption and starts to increase children's interest in vegetables.
I really like the idea of a vegetable of the day/month idea. It makes vegetables an exciting thing. Also it was suggested that children help with a garden. Many children are much more willing to try vegetables if they help grow them or even prepare them.
I agree with Courtney in that economic constraints are sometimes a barrier to day care providers who wish to provide fresh fruit and vegetables for their kids. Enrolling into the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is a great option available to day care providers is certainly something I would consider as a food and nutrition manager.
I would also make it a point to educate and collaborate with the teaching staff in order to help identify teachable moments in the classroom. There are several resources online and in print that may be used to create wonderful food experiences in the classroom through incorporation of math and measuring techniques, science and agriculture, sensory perception and art, etc. Getting “hands-on” with fruits and vegetables in the classroom through gardening, preparation, or discussion is a key strategy that I would wish to implement.
Sarah, I like your idea about the dips. Kids usually love dipping their veggies in ranch, or their fruit in caramel, so I think they would be receptive to a new type of dip. I have tried hummus with different kinds of beans than just garbanzo, and I actually like them even better! One could even get as creative as green pea hummus ☺
Courtney, you bring up a very good point I hadn’t thought of about the cost barrier. Since you were at DCR, you probably know all about this. Perhaps there could be a way to utilize canned or frozen veggies, especially with dips (I usually make my own hummus with canned chickpeas, for example). I also agree with enrolling in CACFP. I did a practicum at an adult day care and they had success in utilizing this program as well as the local food bank to meet their needs.
Beth & Kaitlin, Courtney & Erin, I can see both sides of the argument for hiding veggies in entrees. It makes sense to me that if you are able to, you might as well hide veggies in a dish if it will not be noticeable to increase nutrient content. On the other hand, considering what Alyssa has previously mentioned about the Ellyn Satter philosophy (division of responsibility) of feeding kids, it is beneficial to get kids used to seeing and choosing their own vegetables. Otherwise if they do not see or recognize the vegetables, they will be less likely to choose them in the future. Perhaps both methods could be used where appropriate.
Emily, I love the idea of a day care garden. It is something that is utilized in elementary schools, so why not a few years earlier when kids are in that early stage of wonderment. It would also be a renewable & inexpensive way to incorporate veggies once the garden is set up.
I like what Sarah Swanson said about having the kids try different kinds of hummus. Black bean hummus tastes great but looks like poop! Kids used to eat mud (ground up Oreo cookies) and it might appeal to them if taught with a fun edge to it.
I like all the ideas presented. Planting a garden and allowing the children to see the progress from seeds to vegetables would be an awesome way to get them more interested in vegetables.
I also like Carly's idea of enforcing a 2-bite rule to get picky children to try new foods.
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