Lismore Preschool Educators from left: Louise Underhill, Loretta Pascutto, Alexis Smith, Sonia Gibbs, Hannah Rushby and Kim Lawlor
March was Vegie Month, and this year, NNSWLHD’s Health Promotion Team reached over 40,000 children from 678 early childhood education and care services across NSW during this annual campaign.
This included 5,260 kids in 78 centres in Northern NSW, which equates to reaching over 35 per cent of children aged 0-4 in our region with vegie-related activities.
Evidence shows that using sensory exploration through structured programs in childcare settings supports children to eat more vegetables. This includes looking, listening, feeling, smelling and tasting familiar and unfamiliar vegetables every day.
The latest National Health Survey data (ABS 2022) shows just one in 20 (4.3%) children and adolescents aged 2-17 years meet the Australian Dietary Guideline (ADG) recommendations for daily fruit and vegetable intake.
The ADG recommends a minimum of 4-5 daily vegetable serves for children, depending on their age and gender, to ensure good nutrition to support growth and development. Unfortunately, in 2022, fewer children met the vegetable recommendations compared to 2017-18.
Following the Vegie Month activities, NSW educators reported that children were more willing to try familiar and unfamiliar vegetables. They also said that vegetable-focused nutrition learning experiences would continue in their early childhood service.
For more information on early childhood or school programs, email the local team.