Healthy Eating
The first years of a child's life may be the best opportunity for promoting the development of healthy eating behaviours that will be life-long. Early childhood services are unique in their ability to work alongside parents to provide early, positive, repeated experiences with healthy foods and assist children to learn to prefer and select these foods.
The balancing the lunchbox booklet is a popular lunchbox resource for orientation packs.
Services in the Hunter New England Local Health District can order hard copies of the booklet by contacting the Good for Kids Health Promotion Officers on hnelhd-goodforkids@health.nsw.gov.au
If your families are unsure on what foods to swap for a balanced lunchbox, this resource will provide some useful swaps and tips.
Click on the below headings for tips on creating a supportive eating environment, understanding children's eating choices and supporting fussy eaters.
Books and recorded story readings about vegetables can be used to intentially plan a healthy eating learning experience within your service. Click the image below for some books and recorded stories your service might like to use.
Packing school lunchboxes can be overwhelming for families as they transition their children from early childhood services to kindergarten. Use this tip sheet below to provide supportive strategies for families as they navigate packing school lunchboxes.
The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating shows a visual proportion summary of the five food groups that should be consumed over the day.
The caring for children - birth to 5 years, outlines the number of each food group serves early childhood services need to provide to children who attend care for 8 hours or more a day. Click the image below for a direct link to the menu planning section. 
Resource from the Good for Kids SWAP IT program provide lunchbox information for early childhood services, whose families provide food across the day.
The Munch & Move website will provide plenty more healthy eating resources for your service.
