Early Childhood Nutrition

The early years are a critical period for establishing healthy eating and physical activity behaviours in children. Nutritious food and regular physical activity supports the normal growth and development of children and reduces the risk of developing chronic lifestyle diseases including obesity.

In the 2008-09 Budget the Government committed $4.5 million over five years beginning in 2007-08 to develop guidelines on nutrition and physical activity to help early childhood services provide high quality care for young children. This election commitment forms part of the Government’s Plans for Early Childhood and Tackling Obesity.

The implementation of the measure will include developing physical activity guidelines based on recommendations for children under five years; developing nationally consistent evidence-based nutrition guidelines for childcare workers; dissemination of these guidelines to childcare providers and parents; and training childcare providers in the implementation of the guidelines.

The Department will be consulting with a wide range of stakeholders including government agencies and state and territory governments on the development of these guidelines.

See the Government’s Budget media release announcing the funding for this measure:
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/budget/publishing.nsf/Content/budget2008-hmedia007.htm