Happy Valentine’s
Happy Valentine’s Day!
When I was a small child, my family owned a sweetshop and Valentine’s Day would be a good day for chocolate sales! Either organised customers who bought a gilded box of the best quality the night before or those who, looking harassed, grabbed a less expensive box on the day as they raced home from work!
Sweets and chocolates are part of so many celebrations across the world. As today, a sweet treat to show love - “sweets to the sweet” - or a chocolate egg for Easter, chocolate coins for Hannukah. We could go on and on!
Here at GHDN, we love to share a treat with the children which they can eat at home with their parents, but we always limit the sugar we give children daily. A child aged four to six years should have less than 19 grams of “free sugar” per day but there is no recommended limit for children under age four! Even some of the labelling can hide sugars that have been added. The EYFS Statutory Framework states that “Where children are provided with meals, snacks, and drinks, these must be healthy, balanced and nutritious”. This is what we aim for every day at the nursery. Fruit and vegetables, grains and fish are the major ingredients in what we serve whilst sugary items are off-limits!
So why is this so important that I have chosen it for a topic on a happy celebratory day? Sugar adversely affects so much of our bodies and leads to so many avoidable illnesses. Research into the effects on child development is ongoing, but just think about how many children you see with blackened teeth through sugary drinks and many of the baby fruit treats. We all know that brushing a child’s teeth can be a nightmare that takes much of the fun out of bedtime and morning routines (if your child is brushing regularly then many congratulations!) nevertheless, it is crucial to wellbeing in all respects. In Safeguarding statutes, it is now part of neglect to allow your child’s teeth to decay and educational establishments have to report incidents of this sort. Very scary and distressing from one unnecessary, unhealthy ingredient.
To bring us back up to a happier note. We are a Sugar Smart nursery at GHDN and have joined the local authority scheme to ensure this (further details from this link). We will always look after our little ones with healthy, balanced meals which hopefully will lead to healthy habits later in life (as I order heart-shaped donuts as a treat for staff!)
