Healthy Snacks for Tots

News release

6th July 2012

Youngsters have been learning about vegetables and tucking into healthy food as part of National Childhood Obesity Week this week.

Tots at The Old Station Nursery at Lincoln Marina have been given fresh vegetables to touch, taste and smell and spent the week learning new facts about fresh fruit and veg, healthy eating and drawing pictures of their favourite types of fat-free food.

National Childhood Obesity Week runs between 2nd July and 8th July. It is organised by the charity Mind, Exercise, Nutrition… Do it! (mend) and aims to raise awareness of the dangers of being above a healthy weight during childhood.

Nursery manager Sam Waite, who is also Quality and Compliance Manager across all 13 of the group’s settings, said instilling a healthy attitude towards food at an early age gives the children a chance to put healthy habits in place from a young age.

“Eating well and developing a healthy relationship with food is a very important skill for young children to learn in their early years,” said Sam. “It has been well documented by healthcare professionals and charities that healthy living helps with development, concentration and fitness levels.

“We thought that the best way the children could get to grips with all the different types of food available would be to let them handle them, ask questions and introduce them to a playing environment. And having a nibble on some different varieties of vegetables also helps them to learn, as children employ all their senses to understand their environment.

“It’s been very well received with the children here and I think the parents will be pleased to learn that this is the type of learning we focus on for their children.”

The nursery’s in-house chef Zoe Gibson – who cooks all the meals from scratch on site – has also created a nutritious new dish to add to the menu. The dish, called Jamaican Chicken, uses fresh chicken flavoured with a ginger and thyme sauce, sweet potatoes and plantains, served with a red bean rice.

Zoe said: “Every parent knows that children can be very tricky eaters, so finding something simple but nutritious which the children like to eat is always a challenge. I think activities like giving them a chance to handle food gets them involved in a way that makes them want to try more varieties of foods. The new dish has gone down very well.”

Ends

Notes to editors

• The Old Station Nursery Ltd was founded by Sarah Steel in 2002 and now runs 13 settings across England.
• To find out more visit www.theoldstationnursery.co.uk
• National Childhood Obesity Week runs between 2nd July and 8th July. More information can be found at http://www.mendcentral.org/

Cerri Delaney
Shooting Star PR
01522 528540
cerri@shootingstar-pr.co.uk
www.shootingstar-pr.co.uk
t: @cerridelaney

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