Sugar Awareness Week

As we mark Sugar Awareness Week, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the role of sugar in shaping the lifelong eating habits of young children. Research from Action on Salt and Sugar has put the spotlight on popular sweet snacks with alarming levels of sugar. With many of these sugary snacks contributing to excessive sugar intake in children more needs to be done to prioritise children’s health and protect them from the risks of diet related disease.

The importance of tackling sugar in early years

The focus on sugar content in school food is welcome and at Nursery Kitchen, we recognise the importance of tackling sugar in children’s diets right from the start. Research shows that taste preferences developed in early childhood can influence food choices throughout life. Exposing children to sugary foods early in life risks normalising high-sugar diets, making it harder to shift habits as they grow.

At Nursery Kitchen, we take our role in shaping children’s health seriously, ensuring our meals set a strong foundation for healthy habits. We believe we have a responsibility to set examples of the highest standards when it comes to food and nutrition which is why we guarantee all our dishes are low in sugar.

Our commitment to low sugar dishes and menus also includes:

· Never adding sugar, honey, syrups, nectars or fruit purees to any of our recipes and ensuring that all our dishes are low in sugar.

· Only using plain, unsweetened yoghurts and never sweetening yoghurts or second courses with sugar, sweeteners, fruit purees or sugar substitutes.

· Never using artificial sweeteners which can promote a preference for sweet-tasting foods.

· No Juices or Smoothies: The only drinks we recommend for early years settings are water and milk.

· Low-Sugar Cereals: Our breakfast options are carefully selected to meet low-sugar criteria, going beyond Eat Better Start Better guidelines.

Building better relationships with food in early years?

Beyond monitoring the sugar content of our meals, we also work hard to consider the messaging and relationships children build with food. We avoid the words ‘pudding’ or ‘dessert’ (which are often associated with sweet dishes) and use the term ‘second course’ instead. We also encourage savoury second courses on the menu each week such as cheese and crackers or veggie sticks and humous.

We believe that adopting these approaches and prioritising wholesome, low sugar diets early in life is crucial for developing healthy eating habits and reduce the risk of diet related disease later on.