Families with children under three need better practical support if they are to encourage positive feeding habits from an early age, cautions an influential group of experts on childhood nutrition and development.
Category: Articles
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Response to the School Food Trust`s guidelines for food and drink provision in early years settings launched
The Infant & Toddler Forum (ITF) welcomes today’s launch of the School Food Trust’s voluntary guidelines for food and drink provision in early years settings.
Dr Atul Singhal, Professor of Paediatric Nutrition at the Institute of Child Health and Chair of the ITF, says: “The recommendations from the School Food Trust will support practitioners working in early years settings across England and help increase knowledge about managing feeding during this crucial stage of childhood development. However, toddlers’ eating habits are also hugely influenced at home so it is vital that families have easy access to simple, evidence-based advice. The ITF provides parents and carers with practical tips and tools to help them make the best choices when feeding toddlers and encourage positive attitudes to food.”
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Award‐winning guidance on toddler portion sizes
Poster presentation awarded ‘best practice’ at CPHVA/Unite conference
Following yesterday’s launch of the Infant & Toddler Forum’s new Factsheet ‘Portion Sizes for Toddlers: 1‐3 Years’, the guidance has won first prize for the CPHVA/Unite Annual Professional conference best practice poster award.
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Experts launch toddler portion sizes you can recommend with confidence
Infant & Toddler Forum releases best‐practice guidance on how much food to offer
The Infant & Toddler Forum (ITF) today launches new evidence‐based portion size ranges for children aged 1‐3 years.
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Early years settings must prioritise toddler nutrition to promote public health, say experts
The Infant & Toddler Forum – experts in child health, nutrition and development – is stepping up its work to encourage wider recognition and adoption of its ‘Ten Steps for Healthy Toddlers’ launched last year to address the lack of simple, consistent guidance on toddler eating habits.
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Who’s feeding our toddlers? It’s a job share…
New data shows that 30% of toddler meals provided by carers other than parents
‘Ten Steps for Healthy Toddlers’ launched to help parents, carers and healthcare professionals share the task of feeding toddlers
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Infant and Toddler Forum supporting statement in response to the Montpellier Panel briefing paper launched 17 May 2011
The Montpellier Panel recently presented a briefing urging governments to help tackle early years undernutrition, especially in developing countries, with committed funds and decisive action. The Panel is also calling for increased investment in the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Framework, which recommends the action needed to improve the health of pregnant women, mothers and children under the age of two.
As experts in early years nutrition and child development, the Infant & Toddler Forum supports the evidence-based guidance provided by the SUN Framework and reiterates the Panel’s call to governments for significant action, although not just for developing countries. Many toddlers in the UK currently have a sub-optimal diet and show micronutrient deficiencies of iron, zinc and vitamin D. Iron, zinc and vitamins A and D are all crucial for optimizing growth, health and development in the early years of life.
“The Infant & Toddler Forum aims to provide health and childcare professionals, parents and carers with practical help and information on nutrition and development in the early years, including Factsheets on ‘Nutrients: Functions, Sources & Requirements’, ‘Common Nutritional Problems in Toddlers’, and ‘Iron Deficiency Anaemia in Toddlers”.
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Infant and Toddler Forum Position Statement in response to coverage – Panorama, BBC 1 – What’s Really in Our Kids’ Food?
Panorama discussed the issues surrounding foods marketed at toddlers as well as the challenges of feeding toddlers today. The Infant & Toddler Forum and drivers of the Little Peoples Plates initiative for healthier eating for the under threes, have been working to put toddler nutrition on the agenda of politicians, healthcare professionals and parents for over five years. The Infant & Toddler Forum are committed to helping parents make informed choices about how to feed their toddler whether food is home cooked or pre prepared and have developed two new Factsheets to provide healthcare professionals and parents with guidance on how to select foods, including convenience foods that can be a nutritious option suitable for toddlers.
Convenience foods are now part of everyday life for most households in the UK. The combination of a lack of time, inadequate cooking skills and for some families, limited access to shops where affordable fresh produce is sold, means that convenience foods often become the default family food. Convenience foods vary in their suitability for toddlers. Some are less nutritious containing few of the key nutrients toddlers need and they may have high amounts of added salt, fat and sugar. Knowing which convenience foods to use and which to avoid is never easy. Helping parents to make this decision is a key aim of these Factsheets entitled Understanding food labels and How to choose nutritious fresh or convenience foods.
The Factsheets also provide advice on how to better understand food labelling. They explain the difference between foods marketed at toddlers, which do not have to comply with any regulations; and those labelled specifically as suitable for an infant or toddler under three years of age (e.g. 12+ months) which must comply with regulations requiring a minimum nutrient content and a maximum limit on salt, sodium, fat, sugar and pesticides. Advice is also given on how to interpret the information on labels when trying to make healthy food choices for toddlers.
Health and childcare professionals can visit www.infantandtoddlerforum.org to download factsheets
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Feeding the 21st Century Toddler
Why dietary advice for parents needs to take into account toddler development
Dietary information needs to take into account the age, nutritional and developmental needs of toddlers to help parents of young children deal with the difficulties of feeding their families healthily in the 21st century. -
Toddler Diets Raise Concern for the Health of Future Generations – 2009 Little People’s Plates Press release
TODDLER DIETS RAISE CONCERN FOR THE HEALTH OF FUTURE GENERATIONS: EXPERTS CALL FOR CLEARER GUIDANCE and LAUNCH EDUCATION INITIATIVE
Many of Britain‟s toddlers are being raised on a diet consisting mainly of takeaways and adult ready meals before they are even out of nappies. -
Introducing Peanuts Into Your Children’s Diet
The Food Standards Agency and Department of Health have concluded that peanuts and peanut containing foods such as butters, spreads and puffs can be introduced into the diet of children after the age of six months.
In high risk children (i.e. children who have a family history of allergy or children who already have a food allergy to another food), peanuts and food containing peanuts can be introduced after the age of six months after discussion with a GP, health visitor or medical specialist that it is safe to do so. Whole peanuts should not be given to any child under the age of 5 years due to the risk of choking.