Kids on Campus recieves Start Right Eat Right award

Wodonga TAFE’s Kids On Campus Childcare Centre has received the Start Right Eat Right award, which recognises best practice in nutrition for children attending long day care centres in Victoria.

Start Right Eat Right aims to increase the proportion of young children in long day care introduced to nutritious foods and age appropriate eating patterns in a positive environment and is a suitable strategy for addressing concerns around childhood obesity. The award is funded by the Department of Human Services.

As Kids on Campus Director, Lisa Wiltshire explains “child care centres have the potential to have an enormous positive influence on children’s food preferences. They are ideally placed to allow children to experience a wide variety of foods, providing a good starting point in the development of healthy eating patterns”. Start Right Eat Right training also strengthens the capacity of child care professionals to engage families and provide practical and consistent nutrition information on children’s nutrition.

Training is provided to both the centre director and cooks by an experienced dietician. To achieve the award, centres must then be assessed and demonstrate competency in:

• planning and assessing menus to provide children with 50% of recommended daily intake
• providing a positive mealtime environment
• preparing a comprehensive nutrition policy for their centre
• meeting food safety regulations.

Congratulations to Kids on Campus for this outstanding achievement.