Campaign
Children Are Unbeatable!
Children Are Unbeatable! is an alliance of organisations and individuals seeking legal reform to give children the same protection under the law on assault as adults. Their campaign is urging as many people as possible to make the case to Education Secretary Alan Johnson for equal protection. You can add your voice to the campaign at www.childrenareunbeatable.org.uk.
Every Disabled Child Matters
Every Disabled Child Matters is a new campaign to get rights and justice for every disabled child. The Pre-school Learning Alliance is a partner in the campaign through the Special Educational Consortium. Please log on to www.edcm.org.uk to register your support.
Feeding Young Imaginations
Everyone recognises the importance of a healthy start in life and the long-term implications of poor diet and a lack of physical exercise. Obesity is rapidly becoming the largest contributor to disease and premature death in the United Kingdom and barely a day passes without reference to it in the media. The statistics are well known- that the number of obese children has trebled in the last 20 years; that, if rates continue to grow as they have, within a generation, 40% of the UK could be obese; that obesity increases the likelihood of heart disease, diabetes and respiratory illness in later life.
But the challenge is much greater than defying statistics or reversing trends. Long-term health and social well-being are known to be affected by diet in the early years. Preschool age is a time when food preferences start to be established and when children begin to become more active.
For parents, there are vast quantities of often confusing information on children's nutrition and development to digest, from a wide range of sources. For early years' settings, responsible for providing healthy and enjoyable daily meals for children, there is little in the way of guidance tailored specifically for children under five.
Feeding Young Imaginations aims to address this shortage of information for the benefit of all early years' settings, parents and children. It will
- Develop guidelines for food provision in pre-school settings, acknowledging the needs of children at different ages, as well as cultural and dietary requirements
- Provide practical food and nutrition advice and support for pre-school staff, volunteers and parents
- Raise awareness of the importance of a healthy start in life and the need for resources to ensure that all children benefit.
The Alliance is working in partnership with the British Nutrition Foundation to ensure that resources for settings and parents are appropriate and reflect the most up-to-date, relevant information. Feeding Young Imaginations aims to ensure that the early years sector has its own tailored guidance for community based, non-statutory settings to use to help all children get the best possible start in life.
Visit our nutrition website for detailed guidance on early years nutrition for parents and professionals as well as menu planning guidelines and recipe ideas.