The Early Years Section of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth (DCEDIY), in conjunction with the HSE Healthy Eating Active Living Programme recently hosted an in-person event that brought together HSE staff working in child health and health promotion and improvement (including dietitians) to learn essential background in early education and care.
Attendees heard from a range of speakers who provided updates about the latest schemes and resources to promote a healthier food environment in early education and care settings. Kathryn O’Riordan, of Access & Inclusion, DCEDIY, provided the background and context of early years education and care in her opening address. She announced that DCEDIY is building a programme of enhanced nutrition for the Equal Start services.
You can find the nutrition standards they will be following which were developed by Healthy Ireland here: https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/0ad06-nutrition-standards-for-early-learning-and-care-services/
Meabh McGuinness, HSE Health and Wellbeing, discussed the development of Early Learning and Care E-learning Training Modules. These modules cover healthy eating, physical activity, and emotional wellbeing. They will replace the Healthy Ireland Smart Start training. They will be integrated into the Better Start learning platform of DCEDIY.
Other speakers included
- Joana Caldeira Fernandes da Silva, safefood, who introduced the current safefood campaign to build awareness of the current food environment called “Talk about Food”.
- Louise Reynolds, the Irish Nutrition and Dietetics Institute, discussed an additional Nutrition Pilot Programme (Hot Meals Pilot Scheme) in early learning and childcare settings.
- Celine Murrin, UCD Dublin, EU free milk scheme pilot in preschools to promote milk consumption among 2- to 5-year-old children.
- Suzanne Seery, HSE launched the HSE Preschool Menu Plan. This resource provides a practical guide to implementing the ‘Nutrition Standards for Early Learning and Care Services’ published by DCEDIY in 2023. It’s available to download at https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/0271d-menu-plan-for-early-learning-and-care-services/.