Nutrition

Our nutrition component ensures that children have nutritious meals & snacks during the time in which they are in the program.

Regulations & Policy

HS Performance Standards 1302.32(e)(2) & Title 5 Sections 17708, 18111 & 18278 

Meals & snacks must be culturally & developmentally appropriate for the children being served. 

Must meet the nutritional requirements specified by the Child & Adult Food Program (CACFP)/National School Lunch Program (NSLP).

Must implement snack & meal times in ways that support development & learning.

Must provide sufficient time for children to eat, not use food as reward or punishment & not force children to finish their food.

Tools:

• CACFP Training PowerPoint

Video Description: This Video Talks about Nutritional Needs For Ages 1 through 12

Food Service Requirements for Child Care Centers

Serving safe & nutritious foods to children in care is one of your most important responsibilities. During a facility inspection, Community Care Licensing will review your posted menu:

1) Food safety

• Hand-washing

• Clean refrigerator

• Clean food storage space. All edible items must be stored separately from cleaning materials & poisons

• Food & infant milk brought from home must be labeled with child’s name, contents & date provided

2) Types & amounts of foods on hand

• Adequate amount of food to serve children at anytime

  All snack, meal & beverage items meet the food program standards

Licensing Food Service Requirement Video

Infant Meal Patterns

Infant meal patterns apply to babies from birth to 1 year of age.

Infant meal patterns support breastfeeding, developmentally appropriate & nutritious meals.

Bottle-fed infants must be held during feeding to support socialization.

Tools:

• Infant Meal Patterns

• Infant Meal Record

• Child Best Practices

• Serving Milk

• Choosing Yogurts

• Choosing Breakfast Cereals 

Video Description: A Video on Nutritional Needs for Infants

Child Meal Patterns

Child meal patterns apply to children 1 year of age & older.

Child meal patterns ensure children have access to healthy, balanced meals throughout the day with the focus on providing a greater variety of vegetables & fruit, whole grains & less added sugar & saturated fat.

Snack & meal times must be structured & used as learning opportunities that support teaching staff-child interactions & foster communication & conversations that contribute to a child’s learning, development & socialization. Family style meals are served when developmentally appropriate.

Ensure sufficient time is given for children to eat, never use food as reward or punishment & do not force children to finish their food.

Tools:

• Child Meal Patterns

• Child Best Practices

• Serving Milk

• Choosing Yogurts

• Choosing Breakfast Cereals 

Medical Accommodations/Food Allergies

There must be a confidential alert system in place to ensure anyone serving food is aware of any child that may have a food allergy.

Any meal accommodations must be reviewed with the nurse. If a child needs to eat something different due to a food allergy or religious reason, give parent the applicable form & follow-up with health staff

Food Preference Request form is used for non-medical requests & the Medical Statement to Request Special Meals for medical reasons, such as food allergies.

Tools:

• Food Preference Request

• Medical Statement to Request Special Meals

• Sample Allergy Alert Posting

Harvest of the Month

Healthy Children Make Better Learners!

Through our Harvest of the Month program, each month your site will receive a produce delivery with a packet containing the following items:

• Educator newsletter for the teacher/staff

• Family newsletter to go home with each student

• Stickers for taste testers

• Activity Tracking Form to be completed after the tasting activity

Tools:

• Activity Tracking Form

• Crop Calendar

• Harvest of the Month Overview (PowerPoint)

Record Keeping

Records are maintained in the GO-Attendance: Sign In and Out Sheets Google Drive

Center Supervisor uploads

• Weekly: Sign In/Out Sheets, Ratio Sheets & COPA 236-Child Absentee & Follow Up Report

• Center-Based: Monthly COPA reports 201, 208 & 210 used to analyze food program data (Print by 5th of month)

• CenterTrack Class Roster Report (Reconcile HS & State Classroom assignment & Program model)

Tools:

• Binder Cover & Table of Contents

• Daily Meal Documentation