Did you know there are no Government-backed regulations about what children should eat while at nursery?

Increasing access to free childcare means nurseries are becoming increasingly responsible for the diets of our pre-schoolers and helping to ensure Britain’s next generation lead healthy and happy lives. As an industry, early years settings are solely reliant on outdated guidelines – which are not regulated by the Government – on what good nutrition means and looks like.

Shockingly, the National Institute for Health and Care Research has recently reported that more than a fifth of children in the UK aged five are overweight or obese, and nearly a quarter of five-year-olds in England are affected by tooth decay.

Children's food preferences and eating habits are moulded early in life, with far-reaching consequences. It’s so important to introduce children to healthy ingredients in the early years to fuel growth, shape cognitive development, set the stage for conscious nutritious eating habits, and influence future health outcomes.

For the wellbeing of our future generations, we are calling for stricter, clearer, and more specific food standards for early years settings, with clear, concise, and enforceable regulations across the UK. Industry leaders are writing to Government leaders asking for:

·       A revision to the Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework, to expand the food section, providing clear standards for “nutritious” meals.

·       A review of the Eat Better, Start Better programme to encourage early years settings to invest in and see high quality, healthy food as a priority.

·       A call for specific attention to early years settings in Labour’s Child Health Action Plan. We need change before primary school so that children can develop lifelong healthy eating habits right from day one.

We hope to invoke real change from the Government to do what’s right by our children - because they deserve so much better, and we hope you agree.

Show your support for the future of Britain’s children and sign the petition below to help generate the attention we know this matter deserves. Every signature counts and will help to get this matter considered at Parliament.