Nutrition Australia offers a range of services which will help your facility meet or exceed the food and nutrition related principles of the QIAS and FDCQA Quality Practices Guides. A 10% discount applies to all Nutrition Australia members.

Nutrition and Food Handling Course

This course can help Long Day Care Centres meet the QIAS requirements outlined in Principles 6.1 and 6.2, and Family Day Care providers to meet the FDCQA requirements outlined in Principle 4.2. A Dietitian will visit your facility and present a two hour nutrition and food handling course for up to 25 people.

Topics covered in the course include:

• Nutrition concerns and requirements for children and infants
• Dietary Guidelines for Children
• Nutrition Policy
• Food Hygiene
• Food Handling Practices

Smaller facilities might like to team up with staff from a nearby facility so the cost can be shared (limit of 25 people per workshop).

Menu Assessments

For childcare centres that provide food, this service helps ensure that accreditation guidelines are being met in terms of food and nutrition. A Dietitian will conduct the menu assessment by visiting the facility and providing a comprehensive report. Menu assessments are based on recommendations outlined by the National Childcare Accreditation Council, specifically principle 6.1 of the QIAS Quality Practices Guide. Menu assessment reports also incorporate nutritional requirements for children based on:

• National Health and Medical Research Council's Recommended Dietary Intakes (RDIs)
• Australian Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents
  

Parent Workshops

A Dietitian will visit your facility and provide practical advice for parents of infants, toddlers and young children. These one hour interactive information sessions can cover a range of topics of interest which include:

• Infant nutrition
• Developing healthy eating habits
• Achieving adequate nutrition with minimal fuss
• Dealing with fussy eaters
• Composition of lunchboxes and appropriate snacks
• Food allergy and intolerances
• Food variety
  

Tasty Treats Workshops

In addition to information provided in the Parent Workshop, the one and half hour Tasty Treats Workshop includes a range of various healthy snacks for parents to try with their children. These treats are prepared by the Dietitian and additional discussion of this topic is included.

Kids at Play

Kids at Play is a healthy lifestyle program designed to help ACT-based early childhood services advance the health and wellbeing of children aged 0–5 years.

Kids at Play promotes healthy eating and active play messages that will help guide children in being healthy throughout their lives. Kids at Play also provides information to help families reinforce these healthy messages at home.

The program focuses on increasing physical activity levels, reducing screen-time and improving healthy eating. The five key messages that Kids at Play promotes are:

1. active play everyday
2. switch to play everyday
3. breastfeeding - good for baby, good for mum
4. munch into veg and fruit everyday
5. tap into water everyday

Kids at Play has been developed by Heart Foundation ACT, ACT Health and Sport and Recreation Services. Nutrition Australia ACT has been consulted throughout its development and are now delivering full day training workshops to Early Childhood directors and staff at a number of venues across the ACT.

The program offers a number of resources to assist early childhood services including: factsheets, posters, Kids at Play manual and Kids at Play DVD

To learn more about the Kids at Play program visit the website at www.kidsatplay.act.gov.au