Analysis Of A Three-Week Menu For Children

In designing a three-week menu for a group of children aged from three to five years old there were several factors to be considered. These included whether any of the children had food allergies of any kind, whether there were children form different ethnic backgrounds and whether any of the children were known to be fussy eaters. In this group there is a child who is allergic to egg, some children from Indian and Chinese backgrounds and also some who are perceived as fussy eaters. There have been multiple documents used in conjunction with the menu including Australian Dietary Guidelines, Victorian Healthy Eating Enterprise, and Caring for children. Using the information from various documents, has indeed created a menu that is fit to be …show more content…
Throughout the menu, food portions have been looked upon and has been in conjunction with those that are outlined by (New South Wales, Ministry of Health, 2014). According to New South Wales, Ministry of Health, 2014, there is a very specific serving size, serves per day as well as the serves that need to be provided to toddlers while there in care. For vegetables and legumes/beans, children are required to have one to one and half serves while in care. This can be seen by looking at for example week one day two lunch that is chicken and vegetable risotto. For the fruit section, children are required while in care, to have a quarter serve of fruit. This can be seen in each of the weeks, as there is a fruit platter that is available to all children, and the platter has various fruits that can be consumed by each child while they are in care. Another food group is grain foods when children are in care it is required they get two serves; this can be seen all throughout the menu for example in week two day one wholemeal sandwich are used. In another food group lean meats, poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, legumes/beans, it is a requirement that children have half a serve. This can be seen in week one day five with chicken chow mein. The last food group is milk, yoghurt, cheese or alternatives; this can be seen all throughout the menu, for example, the drink that is available for …show more content…
With saying this a child with an allergy to food, has a response that is triggered by the immune system- such a reaction may bring about a serious medical condition or may be life threatening (Robertson, 2015). Throughout the menu, there are various foods that have egg in them, with each food item that has egg there is an equal or equivalent of the egg. This can be seen at the bottom of each of the menu as this displays what will be added, changed or extra will be added to the food. In most cases, there is an element of adding extra of ingredients that are already in the recipe e.g. water. Therefore, this menu can cater for a child or children that have an egg