Nutrition

Help children build a strong relationship with food and make the right choices from the start.

From September 2025, there is a new requirement in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework that early years providers ‘should’ have regard to the new nutrition guidance on GOV.UK.

Providers must take this into account and should follow it unless there is a good reason not to.

Help for early years providers offers additional information and resources which can help support practitioners meet the EYFS requirement that states: ‘Where children are provided with meals, snacks and drinks, these must be healthy, balanced and nutritious’.

Good food habits from birth

Good nutrition is important to make sure children:

• get the right amount of nutrients they need while they are growing rapidly
• don’t consume too much food, which may lead them to become overweight or obese

Offering children a wide range of foods, textures and flavours can help increase the variety of foods children will eat. This can encourage healthier eating habits later in childhood. This is especially important during this time of early growth and development.

This is a crucial time to help to reduce health inequalities throughout a child’s life. Some children might not have access to healthy food at home for a number of reasons. You can help influence children’s food choices, which may influence their parent’s choice of food.

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