Better health and ageing for all Australians

Nutrition and Healthy Eating

Get Up & Grow: Healthy eating and physical activity for early childhood

The Government has committed $4.5 million over five years from 2007-08 to 2011-12 and an additional $1.3 million over three years from 2012-13 to 2014-15 to develop and distribute guidelines on healthy eating and physical activity in early childhood settings.

In this section:

This forms part of the Government’s Plan for Early Childhood and Plan for Tackling Obesity.

The guidelines were launched jointly by the Minister for Health and Ageing, the Hon Nicola Roxon, and the Minister for Early Childhood Education, Child Care and Youth, and Minister for Sport, the Hon Kate Ellis MP, on 22 October 2009. The guidelines consist of ten healthy eating guidelines and five physical activity guidelines. They complement other Australian Government initiatives, including the Healthy Kids Check for four year olds, the Physical Activity Recommendations for Children 0 to 5 years, and the Get Set 4 Life – habits for healthy kids guide.

The Get Up & Grow: Healthy Eating and Physical Activity for Early Childhood (Get Up & Grow) resources have been developed to support early childhood education and care settings (centre based care, family day care and preschools) to implement the healthy eating and physical activity guidelines. The guidelines and resources provide early childhood education and care settings and families with children attending these settings with practical information to support and promote healthy eating and physical activity in children under five years of age.

The Get Up & Grow resources consist of:

  • a Directors /Coordinators Book;
  • a Staff/Carers Book;
  • a Cooking for Children Book;
  • a Family Book;
  • posters;
  • stickers;
  • flyers; and
  • a CD-ROM containing newsletter inserts and each flyer.
A consortium consisting of the Murdoch Children's Research Institute Centre for Community Child Health, Early Childhood Australia and The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne developed the guidelines and resources. They are evidence-based and support a consistent, national approach to childhood nutrition and physical activity. Consultations with state and territory governments, child health experts, the early childhood sector and families informed the development of the resources. Field testing was also undertaken.

The Get Up & Grow resources have been translated into nine non-English languages (Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Korean, Indonesian, Malaysian, Arabic, Turkish and Spanish) to ensure they are accessible to culturally and linguistically diverse groups.

Feedback received on the Get Up & Grow resources has been overwhelmingly positive, with respondents reporting the resources are easy to understand, provide useful information, and are relevant to their early childhood setting.

Implementation of the Get Up & Grow guidelines

On 7 December 2009, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to a new National Quality Agenda for Early Childhood Education and Care. From 2012, a jointly-governed unified national quality framework will apply to Long Day Care, Family Day Care, Outside School Hours Care and Preschool settings. This national framework will replace the current licensing and accreditation processes and includes a new National Quality Standard for Early Childhood Education and Care and School Age Care. The healthy eating and physical activity guidelines will support the new National Quality Standard. This will occur specifically through guidelines that will support services in planning for quality improvement and to fulfil the requirements of the new National Quality Standard.

For further information on the Get Up & Grow: Healthy eating and physical activity for early childhood guidelines and resources please email PHD Frontdesk.