Open Collections

Real Life Nutrition Assessment

University of British Columbia. Sustainability Office

The aim of this case study is to improve the current snack program in Sandpiper Child Care Services Centre in order to provide nutritionally adequate snacks to the children. The study follows the five-step nutrition care process (NCP), and dietary and ecological assessment are chosen as our areas of focus. Snack calendars provided by the childcare center are analyzed for the nutrition and energy content of each snack item, and surveys are conducted with the staff about their nutritional education background. From the assessment, we discovered the limited incorporation of all four food groups in snack preparation as well as a lack of awareness of healthy snack preparation amongst the child care staffs. From the assessment and the analysis of the results, a PES statement is developed: Imbalanced macronutrient intake related to childcare staffs’ lack of nutritional knowledge evidenced by low awareness of balanced diet in staff reported in surveying and lack of variety in food group selections in snack preparation. In order to improve the current situation, short-term and long-term intervention plans are proposed. Regarding short-term, alternative recipes with nutrient dense snacks are provided. On the other hand, for long-term, nutrition workshops for the staff every 6 months are suggested to refresh their nutritional knowledge. The goal of the interventions would be to improve staff’s nutrition knowledge and promote healthy eating habits in the children at the childcare. The same questionnaire used in assessment will be redistributed to staffs after interventions for monitoring purposes. Even though there are limitations in the case study, such as the limited representation of children’s dietary habits due to restricted observation opportunities, this study hopes to increase the awareness of providing nutritious food in childcare centres of the general public especially the childcare centres’ stakeholders, which are the parents and child care staffs. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”

Text

UBC Social Ecological Economic Development Studies (SEEDS) Student Report; University of British Columbia. FNH 370

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0343583

Land and Food Systems, Faculty of

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/