A Small-Scale Exploration of the Multiple Approaches Implemented by a KS1 Setting to Support Children with Healthy Eating.

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Contents

Abstract. 4

1 Introduction. 5

2 Method for Literature Review.. 5

3 Literature Review.. 6

3.1 Early Childhood Studies. 6

3.1.1 Working with Children. 7

3.2 Early Year Setting Approach. 7

3.2.1 Creating a rich learning environment 7

3.2.2 Healthy Eating. 8

3.2.3 Developing the habit of exercise. 9

3.3 Developing Reading Skills. 10

3.4 Develop Out-standing schools. 10

4 Critical Analysis of Two key Sources. 10

4.1 Food and Nutrition Policy for School 11

4.1.1 Epidemiologic Aspects of Unhealthy Eating. 11

4.1.2 Eating Habits of Children. 11

4.1.3 Effects of Good Nutrition in Schools. 12

4.1.4 Developing and Designing a Healthy Eating Policy. 12

4.1.5 Elements of Food and Nutrients Policy. 13

4.2 Comprehensive Framework for Addressing the School Nutrition Environment and Services. 13

4.2.1 School Meal 13

4.2.2 Classroom Celebrations and Food Rewards. 14

4.2.3 Clean Water Access Approach. 14

4.2.4 Dining Space. 14

5 Comparative Analysis of Two Key Sources. 14

6 Ethical Considerations. 16

6.1 Confidentiality. 16

6.2 Informed Consent. 16

6.3 Nonmaleficence. 17

7 Conclusion. 17

8 References. 18

Introduction

KS1 is the Key stage 1 that is used for the children in the range of ages 5 to 7. This is the term used for two years of schooling in the primary section (EB, 2009). According to the Education Act 2002, this is labeled as a period in which a major number of pupil or students enter the school at the age of six and ends at the age of seven. The act was proposed on the basis of the idea that children of this specific age must go through the national curriculum in which special teaching programs were designed. The included programs were the courses of Mathematics and English, Design and History, Science and Technology, Religious Teachings and Foreign Languages, Computer Skills, Geography and Music and Art and Craft (Anon., n.d.). Moreover, the purpose was to groom the children physically and mentally. That is why physical sports were also included in the curriculum such as swimming. These programs were for the betterment of children as it is assumed that pupils at the age of Key Stage 1 carry flexibility in learning and are known to adopt things in the better way.

It was observed in the last few years that the mental and physical health of children was falling down with the passage time. So, to tackle the situation extensive research was done to ascertain the ways to improve the health of children. Outlined below in the later sections are such approaches that many researchers and analysts have introduced to increase the health ratio of Key Stage 1 pupils. According to some studies it was stated that one out of ten children, with the average of 3 in each classroom, was suffering from mental sickness and that seventy-five (75%) of adults who have mental health problems have roots in their childhood  (Cope, 2017). So, it was concluded in the end that if not all then most of the mental health issues started at the younger age of primary school level.

The objective of writing this report is to apprise the readers with the importance of the health of KS1 children. Some surveys’ results pointed to the fact that in some cases, the burden on children was imposed by the teachers and schools collectively by giving extra workload etc. However, the Educational Act and adoption of national curriculum also proved to be effective in improving the mental condition of many pupils. In the later section, several strategies have been added that help to cure the child from mental abnormalities and frustration by guiding them in a proper way as far as their eating habits are concerned

It has been found that many adults and children are facing this critical situation of mental sickness and as per several surveys, majority the adults going through the mental illnesses had issues in their earlier age. Taking all these facts into account it became extremely important to overcome this issue and, in this article, many efforts have been put to resolve this situation as soon as possible by considering some effective approaches of the health of children by focusing on their diet.

2 Method for Literature Review

To deliver the best approaches and methods different sources were gone through that contained a sufficient amount of information about the KS 1 children. Children are sensitive at every age. However, the children at the ages of five to seven require more attention and consideration. There are many journals, articles, reports, dissertations and websites that are covering the topics of children at early ages. But we were mainly concerned about the health of those children. There was a lot of generic data that was found. After putting a lot of time and attention, some of the most important facts and figures and information were gathered from different sources mentioned below to make a clear understanding. Many strategies are in practice nowadays and most of them are giving effective results as well. The approaches like Early Year Setting and Early Childhood Studies are more concentrated on the health and betterment of the children in the early ages.

Other than the physical habits there are many other approaches that play an important role in building up the mental level of pupil such as make the schools outstanding and developing the reading skills of the pupils. These strategies may seem as irrelevant as first but after in-depth focus, it can be agreed upon that they are really important and effective as far as maintaining the health of pupils is concerned.

Schools and studying are the important aspects of every child’s life which is an undeniable fact. So it was really important to consider these two facts keenly and clearly. Most of the approaches that contribute to healthy fit are the habits if healthy eating and no doubt a child who takes a healthy meal develops a healthy lifestyle.

Many efforts have been made to relate all aspects, like eating habit, exercising and developing reading skills and establishing good schools with the hope that it will fulfill our main objective. The purpose is also to make the readers aware of the fact that some common mistakes which are made results in the bad health of our children. All the information was available easily. However, the information was scattered and difficult part was to combine and relate all the information in a logical and coherent way. The most time taking part was only picking the right information related and relevant to the KS 1 children because as mentioned before many generic data was available but the focus was mainly on the specific data and statistics.

3 Literature Review

Children’s health is a serious issue in today’s world because of which many professionals, analyst, teachers, and skilled persons have been working since years to improve the health statistic ratio of children of early ages in between 5 to 7. They are passionately committed to the goal of achieving a satisfactory health ratio of pupils by making different effective approaches and by applying procedures and getting the results to further refine the research. Listed below is the brief summary of all the approaches used or in use to improve the pupils’ health (both physical and mental). The approaches that are most widely in practice nowadays are as follows:

  • Early Childhood Studies
  • Developing reading skills
  • Making Schools Outstanding
  • Early Year Setting Approach

3.1 Early Childhood Studies

The Early Childhood Studies has made a major contribution in determining the children’s health and health affecting factors. The very first edition of Early Childhood Studies (ECS) was published in 2004 and later on in 2007 a second edition was launched. After some years, the third edition was introduced in 2010, after the positive response and demand of the previous editions (Caroline Leeson, 2010). The study focuses on the parental and guardian guidance for their children, tips on how to spend time with the children and how to treat them Early childhood studies proposed some effective approaches that touch different aspects of pupil’s lives. Discussed below is one of the different strategies.

3.1.1 Working with Children

Every study has agreed on this point that working with children and/or spending some time with them makes a positive impact on them. It is of no doubt that the child at the very young age is a true learner, so if something is taught to child without imposing it and enforcing it, the response will be highly positive. By spending some of their time and giving some of their attention to their child creates a sense of openness and sensitivity among the parents and children and further tightens the bond between the parents and the children.

In this fast-paced world, parents are getting busy in their professional lives. Due to this, they have become so perfectionists that they start expecting the same professionalism from their children at their younger age. It is very important for the parents to realize the limitations of their children. Other than this, the parents must be ready to find out, accept and acknowledge the environmental factors that are putting an adverse effect on their children’s health.

3.2 Early Year Setting Approach

Under the new focus framework, a new approach was introduced among all childcare providers. This was based on how the early year setting is responsible or responsive for the children’s health. The Ofsted is focused on the point that how the young pupil is learning to develop better and healthy eating habits. According to this framework, a healthy diet and constant exercise can help to maintain a healthy fit. The emphasis is a part of a judgment that creates a sense of development, behavior, and welfare. They are looking forward towards the responses that how early year setting is fundamentally taking part in promoting a healthy diet and physical exercise (Kelly, 2015).

The team is responsible to watch the exact meal timing and exercise timings to proceed further with betterment.

The inspection procedure is not defined clearly but, Ofsted is making is sure that a high number of potential parents get involved to learn the importance of healthy diet This is really considerable and noticeable how this approach is promoting the knowledge about the habit of healthy eating and how much this is encouraging practice. The implementation is compulsory.

The most important factor is the environment in which children are eating and taking a meal. This is an important part of the inspection because it becomes very important to keep the environment clean in which children are living and eating. The inspectors pay special attention to the atmosphere while children are taking the meal. For example, it is noticed if the environment is calm or noisy. It is also taken into account whether the children are provided with fun learning opportunities where they can have fun and learn at the same time. Moreover, strategies need to be made to create a rich learning environment for the children.

3.2.1 Creating a rich learning environment

A rich and healthy environment can be created by making sure that the following measures are being taken:

  • Play light and calm music when children are taking the meal.
  • Display the pictures or images that create a sense of healthy lifestyle
  • Make the room decorated by placing table mats, attractive enough to maintain the attention of children but not distractive
  • Encourage practices to have a meal together with your child
  • Help them in using the cutlery
  • Give them respect and behave mannerly to model positive behavior in front of them
  • Try to incorporate with them the food-related activities

During daily practices try to consider and look at the volunteers and practitioners as to how they are taking and eating the meals and is there any opportunity you can further ad to make them learn even in a better way. Ask your chef or cook to get involved with us have dined in and shared their views and knowledge about healthy eating. If they are not well aware then let them know about healthy practices. This can create a positive and informative environment.

Other ‘Early year Settings’ tips to support the children’s health include:

  • Let them know where healthy food comes from
  • A separate place should be allocated where children can indulge in cooking activities
  • Take them to supermarkets and local farms to create a sense of food production. They will get to know about how food is produced and is packed.
  • Try to make contact with the companies that are providing food to see if the resources are available?
  • Ensure that guardian, volunteer and practitioners have enough up to date knowledge about the health and hygiene food.
  • Ask the staff or caretakers to take a meal with the children.

The aforementioned tips are worth practicing. It is recommended to review the food every day that will help to improve the standards and quality of the products.

3.2.2 Healthy Eating

By teaching the children about the healthy eating practices and by practicing the healthy food activities with them, the parents can help their children to maintain a healthy weight and healthy mind. This will help in their normal growth. Once the child develops a healthy habit of eating, they will keep this habit, along with them, throughout their lives and in their adulthood, they will be able to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

It happens the at early ages pupil demand to take the meal which carries fats and other harmful things in a large quantity such as burgers, pizzas and other fast food. However, it is best if parents and teachers alike help them in limiting the intake of fast food by informing them of the harmful effects of such types of foods. The most important aspect of a healthy diet is the portion cutting. Portion cutting is basically portion control in which we reduce the number of specific things like fats and sugar. The parents just need to cut down the number of fats and sugar their child takes in. the effective and simple way to reduce the fatty intake are as follows:

  • Serve the non-fatty or low-fat dairy products
  • Give them poultry without skin
  • Serve them with the lean cuts
  • Give them cereals and whole grains
  • Serve them with vegetables and fruits

It is also are required to reduce the amount of sugar from the child’s diet. This will prevent the child from getting overweight and unfit. If the guardian or parent is not sure about the sugar intake, then it is better to consult a nutritionist.

3.2.2.1 Select Food Wisely

This is the most important thing everyone must practice in his house. It happens that sometimes the food selection of parents becomes a hurdle in the way of healthy eating of their children. So, it is a must to make healthy choices and buy only healthy food and avoid buying unhealthy food stuff. The parents are advised not to bring unhealthy food like snacks, drinks and chips at home.  Also, the are instructed to serve their children with water along with the meal instead of letting them have coke and other cold drinks (Alli, 2018).

3.2.2.2 Eat Slowly

The children must be taught to eat the food slowly. When a kid starts taking the meal slowly and calmly, he she will be better able to appreciate the food that he/she is consuming. Also, it is advised to take small breaks in between eating for the purpose of healthy digestion.  The diet of the children should be vegetables and food-centric (Alli, 2018)………………continued………..