Nutrition, Food Allergies, Choking
Topics to Consider When Planning Child Care Menus

You will want to read about children’s nutrition, food allergies, and choking,before taking a look at the sample child care menus.

NUTRITION
Considering our nation, as a whole, is generally overweight and unhealthy, it is extremely important to teach children at a young age about healthy eating habits. As child care providers, it is our responsibility to provide the most nutritious foods during meals and snacks to develop those healthy eating habits. There are many resources that provide information about the proper way to achieve optimal nutrition for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.

Be sure to spend some time researching this information about nutrition as well as consulting a medical doctor. Some sites of interest include: American Heart and NNCC Nutrition,

Once you have an idea of what foods are considered healthy, you will want to develop some menus for meals and snacks that are packed with nutrition. When planning these menus, consider offering children a wide variety of foods so that they have an opportunity to sample all the delicious fruits, vegetables, and whole grain items available. To help maintain that variety and keep the meals from repeating, plan a couple of week’s worth of meals at a time. Also, children respond to color, so really mix it up at mealtime. Fortunately, nutritious foods such as fruits and vegetables are full of color which makes them particularly appealing to children. Be sure to offer a variety of foods with different textures. Children love foods that are crunchy, smooth, and chewy. It makes it interesting.

Keep in mind that children typically do not like their foods to touch on the plate (I know because I have one of those picky eaters), so try to arrange the foods in a way that they do not touch. If at all possible, try to offer a choice between 2 fruits and 2 vegetables. Older toddlers and preschoolers appreciate having the opportunity to make their own selections. Finally, offer foods that are easy for children to eat independently. If foods are difficult to eat or require too much help from an adult, children become frustrated and leave the food behind on the plate, wasted and uneaten.

Children need to be taught to respect and appreciate the nutritious meals they are given. Never force a child to eat something he or she does not like or does not want, but, at the same time, do not allow the child to throw the food around and be disrespectful. There are plenty of hungry children in our world that would gladly eat the food. I think it important for children to understand that it is a privilege to be provided a healthy, nutritious meal because many children are not so fortunate. If a meal is turned away, that is acceptable; however, it can be done respectfully with a simple “No, Thank You.”

Now, we will turn our attention from nutrition to food allergies.

FOOD ALLERGIES

Food allergies is a topic you will want to become familiar with since you will be responsible for feeding babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. A food allergy is a response by the immune system to a food that is considers harmful. Chemicals are released within the body that trigger allergic symptoms affecting the respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, skin, and cardiovascular system. These symptoms usually appear in the form of hives, difficulty breathing, swelling of the mouth, lips, tongue, or throat, abdominal cramps or diarrhea, loss of consciousness, and even death. Symptoms typically appear within minutes to a couple of hours after the food has been ingested.

You should already have the child’s medical history on file which will indicate any food allergies. Obviously, you will want to avoid giving any foods that a child is known to be allergic to. However, other children may inadvertently give a food to a child that the child is allergic to. If the child has a severe allergy, there should be medication or injectable medication (such as an Epi-pen) prescribed by a doctor that is readily available and can be given immediately. You will want to have explicit instructions from the parents and a medical doctor familiar with the child’s particular food allergies. These instructions will provide you with a detailed action plan so that you know exactly what to do in case of accidental ingestion.

Sometimes, though, children will develop a food allergy after already being exposed to a particular food on several occasions. Make sure you are aware of all foods that the child has already tried at least a couple of times especially foods known to cause severe allergic reactions such as strawberries, milk, eggs, peanuts, soy, and wheat. While these foods do provide great nutrition, they can be lethal to some children.

For further information about food allergies, please go to www.foodallergy.org

CHOKING

Another hazard you may encounter while feeding small children is choking. We are all aware that children commonly put small objects in their mouths that can easily cause them to end up choking, putting their lives at risk. However, it can be a little difficult to gauge when a child may encounter a problem with swallowing food that results in choking. You don't want to compromise nutrition, but you have to consider if certain healthy foods may pose a choking hazard.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, some of the most common foods that cause choking are chunks of meat or cheese, peanuts, popcorn, hard, sticky, or gooey candy, seeds, raw vegetables, whole grapes, and hot dogs, raisins, chewing gum, and chunks of peanut butter.

Being CPR and First Aid certified will keep you best equipped to handle any choking situation, but the main goal is to prevent it from happening in the first place. This can be done by taking several precautions. To begin with, never leave children unattended during breakfast, snack, or lunch time. Always monitor them closely as they eat so that you can react to any signs of choking or aspiration. Additionally, never feed children unless they are seated properly in an upright, stationary position. Children that try to eat while moving around or lying down have a greater chance of accidentally choking. Furthermore, since children under the age of 4 do not have a full set of teeth, it is always best to cut round, firm foods into small ½ inch size pieces.

Actions to Relieve Choking in an Infant

1. Hold the infant face-down on your forearm. Support the infant's head and jaw with your hand. You may need to sit or kneel and rest your arm on your lap or thigh.
   
2. Give up to five back blows with the heel of your free hand.
   
3. If the object comes out and the infant begins to breathe after only a few back blows, stop the back blows.
   
4. If the object does not come out after five back blows, turn the infant onto his or her back and give up to five chest thrusts, supporting the head and neck. Hold the infant with one hand and arm. Use two or three fingers of your free hand to push on the breastbone just as you press for chest compressions during CPR. Stop chest thrusts if the object is forced out.
   
5. Alternate giving five back blows and five chest thrusts until the object comes out or the infant becomes unresponsive.
   
6. If the choking is not relieved, the infant will become unresponsive. When the infant becomes unresponsive, shout for help and start CPR. Chest compressions may force the object out. If you are alone with the infant and these steps don't work after about one minute, phone 911.
   

1. Ask, "Are you choking?"
   
2. If the child speaks or is coughing, do nothing. Allow the child to try to cough up whatever is blocking the windpipe.
   
3. If the child can't speak, cough loudly, or cry, tell the child you are going to help.
   
4. Stand or kneel firmly behind the child and wrap your arms around the child.
   
5. Make a fist with one hand.
   
6. Put the thumb side of the fist on the child's abdomen, slightly above thenavel and well below the breastbone.
   
7. Grasp the fist with your other hand and give quick upward thrusts into the child's abdomen.
   
8. Give thrusts until the object is forced out or the child becomes unresponsive.
   
9. If the choking is not relieved, the child will become unresponsive. When the child becomes unresponsive, shout for help, lower the child to the ground, and start CPR. Chest compressions may force the object out. If you are alone with the child and these steps don't work after about one minute, phone 911.
   

CLICK HERE FOR A YEAR'S WORTH OF CHILD CARE MENUS!

WEEK 1	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY
BREAKFAST	Whole wheat toast --- Banana slices --- Milk	Yogurt --- Blueberries --- Milk	Scrambled eggs --- orange slices/mandarin oranges --- Milk	Oatmeal --- Strawberries --- Milk	Whole grain waffles --- Sliced grapes --- Milk
AM SNACK	Animal crackers --- Apple Juice	Banana bread --- Water	Drink yogurt --- Graham cracker sticks	Goldfish crackers --- Water	Chex Mix --- Water
LUNCH	Baked chicken --- Steamed broccoli --- Apple slices --- Milk	Grilled Cheese Sandwich --- Tomato Soup --- Sliced peaches --- Milk	Peanut-butter and Jelly sandwich --- Green Beans --- Applesauce (flavored) --- --- Milk	Pasta with butter --- Peas and carrots --- Tropical fruit mix --- Milk	Cheese pizza --- Kernel corn --- Diced pears --- Milk
PM SNACK	Nutri-grain bar	Pretzel sticks --- String cheese	Mini-blueberry muffins	Vanilla or Chocolate pudding	Sugar cookie