Healthy food

Contribute to provision of nutritionally balanced food in a safe and hygienic manner CHCCN303A

This unit is about providing babies, children and young people with nutritionally balanced, safe and hygienically prepared food.

This unit supports application of national and state food safety legislation, regulations, infant feeding guidelines and dietary guidelines for children and adolescents in Australia.

 

Requirements

1. Plan food and drink provision

  1. Within the scope of your work role, give children food and drink that is consistent with current Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents in Australia, appropriate for the service type, and suitable variety of foods (tastes, textures, colours, temperatures, cultures etc.)
  2. Meet children's individual needs to promote optimal growth and development, respecting cultural requirements, appetites and food and drink preferences
  3. Encourage children to develop healthy eating habits
  4. Ensure meals and snacks are nutritious, attractive and an appropriate serving size for children
  5. Promote healthy eating through:
    • setting an example (role modelling)
    • positive food awareness experiences,
    • mealtime experiences
    • educating and supporting families and children about healthy eating and how to foster it, including providing resources
  6. Plan and develop cycle menus of foods for each meal and/or snack to display for information of staff, parents and older children
  7. Within the scope of your work role, make sure that nutrition policy identifies, manages and monitors special dietary needs related to food allergies and medical food conditions such as coeliac disease and diabetes.
  8. Explain and address dietary requirements for different ages and developmental stages
  9. In providing food for babies:
    • encourage and support breastfeeding
    • breast milk and formula are stored and prepared appropriately
    • food and milk is warmed and tested for temperature
    • solid food is introduced appropriately according to the Australian dietary

 

2. Maintain food safety while handling food.

  1. Within the scope of your work role, handle, prepare and store food (including expressed breast milk and food supplied by parents and carers)
  2. Cook food if needed by your organization's kind of service
  3. Follow your organization's guidelines and nutrition policy, and legislation and licensing requirements for food safety.
  4. Notice any practices that don't follow food laws and guidelines and remedy them, within the scope of your work role.
  5. Contribute to policy development on healthy eating and nutrition
  6. Address health conditions and/or illness that could affect safe and healthy food handling
  7. Wear clothing and footwear that is appropriate for handling food.

 

3. Other skills

  1. Read labels to identify nutritional value of foods and select healthier choices low in saturated fat and salt and high in fibre.
  2. Treat all parents and children equitably, including Indigenous people
  3. Work with cultural diversity.

 
   

Your assessment

You will be assessed in your workplace. Start by taking your assessor on a walk around and show him/her what you do. Your assessor may ask you any questions. During the walkaround, describe in outline your organization's standards, policies and procedures.

Your supervisor will also be asked to give a reference.

Interview/assignment questions

Your assessor may give you these questions as an assignment. If you are assessed through an interview, then you might want to prepare written notes beforehand. However, they should be used only as a guide and you will not pass the assessment just by reading your notes.

  1. What is the value of healthy eating and physical activity for the promoting:
    • healthy growth and development
    • healthy weight
    • reduced risk of lifestyle related diseases?
  2. Summarize the Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents, Infant Feeding Guidelines (NHMRC) and the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating, including:
    • Food groups and serving sizes as per current Australian dietary guidelines for children and adolescents and infant feeding guidelines (NHMRC)
    • The different types of fat found in food
    • The importance of dietary fats for children under 2 years of age
    • How to identify that foods contain these fats
    • Dietary requirements for infants and children according to age and developmental stage
  3. What is the relationship between food, nutrition, oral health, and hygiene?
  4. Describe feeding requirements for babies. Include the following:
    • importance and benefits of breast feeding
    • role of the service in supporting continued breast feeding
    • safe infant formula use
    • age-appropriate introduction of solids
  5. What is anaphylaxis and what causes it?
  6. What are the signs of anaphylaxis?
  7. What specific health risks are most common among Indigenous children?
  8. What kinds of individual dietary needs could you encounter in childcare (e.g. cultural and religious practices, allergies etc.)?
  9. Why is it important to address individual dietary needs?
  10. Write a simple summary of your state's regulations and guidelines for preparing, cooking, handling and storing food.