Demonstrating wider best practice
There are a number of evidence-based best practice guidelines for early years settings which have been developed for the health and wellbeing of babies and young children.
Many early years providers will already be meeting some or all of these guidelines; by achieving your Food for Life Early Years award you will be able to demonstrate that your good practice has been independently verified.
A Food for Life Early Years Award demonstrates you are:
✔ Meeting national guidelines for food and drink provision in early years settings which include:
- England: The Voluntary Food and Drink Guidelines for Early Years Settings in England, 2012
- Scotland: Setting the Table: Nutritional Guidance and Food Standards for Early Years Childcare Providers in Scotland, 2014
- Northern Ireland: Nutrition Matters for Early Years: Guidance for Feeding Under Fives in the Childcare Setting, Health and Social Wellbeing Improvement, 2013
- Wales: Food and Health Guidelines for Early Years Childcare Settings, Welsh Assembly Government, 2009
✔ Linking to the UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative standards by:
- Support parents to have a close and loving relationship with their baby.
- Encourage and support mothers to feed their baby as they chose and offer a breastfeeding friendly environment.
- Provide safe storage for expressed breast milk.
- We make up feeds safely if parents choose to use formula milk.
✔ Following current Department of Health and Start4Life guidelines around appropriate food and drink in the first year of life as well as supporting best practice in complementary feeding (weaning).