There are several ways in which an early years practitioner can meet children’s individual dietary needs, depending on the setting in which they work. 

Working with parents 

The starting point for meeting children’s individual dietary needs is to work with parents. 

As well as being good practice, this is also a legal requirement of the EYFS. Finding out about individual children’s dietary needs and preferences is usually the role of the key person. 

This is because the key person has responsibility for working closely with the child and their parents. When children first come into the early years setting, the key person will record any dietary needs. 

Over time, this information will be updated. 

Preparation of food 

In most early years settings, early years practitioners prepare snacks for children. In some early years settings, practitioners will also plan and prepare meals. 

This is common in childminding settings and also where early years practitioners work as nannies. When early years practitioners are involved in the preparation of food, it is important that they check that each child is given the type of food that they need. When preparing food for children with allergies, early years practitioners should make sure that the food to which the children are allergic is not prepared at the same time or they should prepare their food in a separate part of the kitchen using different utensils to avoid any possibility of contamination.

Preparation of babies’ feeds 

Most early years settings that take babies will make up their feeds. When making up feeds, it is important for the correct feed to be given and in the correct quantity. The manufacturer’s instructions should also be followed. In addition, good hygiene, including sterilization procedures, should be followed. 

Serving of food 

In most early years settings, early years practitioners are involved in the serving of food to children. They have to check that each child is given the food that they need. In some settings, children with particular dietary needs have their foods served on certain coloured plates as a reminder for staff. While serving food to children, it is important that individual children are not made to feel different and so comments about their food differences need to be kept to a minimum. Wherever possible, food should also be served in ways that do not necessarily flag up that children have dietary differences.

Recording of food intake 

As we saw earlier, an important role of the early years practitioner is to maintain records of food intake, especially for babies and for children with medical conditions such as diabetes. These records must then be shared with parents.