Nutrition at Child Care Centres

Menu Planning and Supportive Nutrition Environments in Child Care Settings – Practical Guide and Self-Assessment Checklist


These child care nutrition resources were created by Public Health Dietitians in Ontario to help and support providers to:

  • plan and prepare healthy food for children in their care
  • reflect current best practices for creating supportive nutrition environments in the child care setting
  • meet the food and drink requirements set out in the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 (CCEYA, Section 42 of Ont. Reg. 137/15)

Support & questions

For support in implementing these nutrition recommendations contact:

  • Public Health Services in your area
  • In Hamilton phone Health Connections at 905-546-3550

Speak to a Registered Dietitian by calling Telehealth Ontario. Toll-free: 1-866-797-0000 Toll-free TTY: 1-866-797-0007

Visit UnlockFood.ca for information about food and nutrition.

Self-Assessment Checklist

The Menu and Nutrition Environment Self-Assessment Tool ( English | French ) complements the Menu Planning and Supportive Nutrition Environments in Child Care Settings Practical Guide.

Super Tasty Snack Ideas

Download the Super Super Tasty Snack Ideas pamphlet (PDF, 663 KB) to help plan your next healthy snack.

Join us for Child Care Nutrition Workshops

Affiliated Services for Children and Youth (ASCY) Cook’s Network: Menu Planning for Child Care

Date: Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Time: 2:30 to 4 pm
Location: 526 Upper Paradise Road, Hamilton
Cost: FREE
To register: Register online or email ascy@ascy.ca or call 905-574-6876 Ext. 222

Participants are encouraged to bring current menus from their child care setting for this workshop.

  • Discuss what the new Canada’s Food Guide means for child care menus
  • Assess your current menus with the “gold standard”
  • Learn how your menus can exceed basic requirements
  • Pick up current resources
  • Share meal and snack ideas

Facilitated by Public Health Dietitians

Paint Your Plate…with vegetables and fruit

Date: Tuesday, November 19, 2019
Time: 6 to 8 pm
Location: 526 Upper Paradise Road, Hamilton
Cost: $10.00 Members, $20.00 Non-members
To register: Register online or email ascy@ascy.ca or call 905-574-6876 Ext. 222

At this interactive workshop, participants will become familiar with the new Paint Your Plate Toolkit for Ontario Child Care Providers. Based on simple, positive concepts designed to promote the consumption of vegetables and fruit of many colours, flavours, and textures, participants will learn quick activities that help children explore and learn about vegetables and fruit and making healthy food choices. Lots of child-friendly recipes are included in this toolkit, along with resources to support and engage families.

Facilitated by Public Health Dietitians

 

Nutrition information for families

We can provide short nutrition articles with simple and clear information on nutrition topics that affect families with children from birth to six years of age for you to put in a newsletter or post on a bulletin board.

To receive these articles six times per year, contact:
Health Connections
Phone: 905-546-3550 
Email: publichealth@hamilton.ca