National Early Childhood Education Curriculum for Food and Nutrition Ages 3- 5 Years. Healthy Foods, Food Hygiene, Adequate Diet.
Week 1
Topic: Healthy Foods
Performance Objectives – Parent/Caregiver: Should be able to:
- recognize the importance of good food for health
- state basic food groups and their function in the body
- prepare adequate diet for children
- discuss and demonstrate proper food selection that would meet nutritional need of the child
Performance Objectives – Child: Should be able to:
- feed self
- accept adult food
- eat healthy foods
- eat in society acceptable manner
Content:
1. Healthy foods Basic functions for food in the body
3. Food groups e.g.
A. body building food e.g. meat, fish, beans, soups, egg, milk, crayfish, groundnut etc.
B. energy giving foods e.g. yams, cocoyam, maize, cassava, potato, corn, rice, palm oil, millet’s. Body protective food e.g. vegetables and fruits, vegetables like okra, greens, (spinach), Pumpkin, fruits, oranges, mangoes, banana, tangerines, carrot, palm oil etc.
4. Selection preparation and storage and strange of foods for children
Activities – Parent/Caregiver:
1. Prepare tasty and adequate diet
2. Give a variety of food in reasonable portions at every meal
3. Encourage the child to accept adult foods
4. Share food with the child
5. Provide children with foods
6. Show pictures of well-nourished and malnourish children
7. Display various foods within the community
8. Display pictures of food groups.
Activities – Child:
1. Eat different kinds of food and fruit
2. Talk about foods
3. Draw and paint pictures of food groups
4. Eat in society acceptable Manner
Caring/Learning Materials:
• Cup
• Plates
• Food chart, posters of food group, nature box
• Pictures of healthy and malnourished child
• Food items e.g. yams, garri, meat, fish, vegetable fruit etc.
• Cooking utensils, pan, pot, spoon, stove, firewood
• Water
• Towel
• Paper
• Crayon
• Paint
• Brushes
• Easel
• Clay
• Songs, rhymes, stories, games about food
• Soap
• Basin
• Pencils
Evaluation Guide:
Child
1. Eat adequately
2. Eat food properly
3. Request for different foods
4. Eat healthy food
5. Show good physical growth and development
Parent/caregiver/teacher
1. Prepare different types of food for proper growth and development
2. Recognize food deficiency unknowledgeable about signs and symptoms of malnutrition.
Week 2
Topic: Food Hygiene
Performance Objectives – Parent/Caregiver: Should be able to:
1. Keep kitchen clean with everything in its place
2. Wash food items before cooking
3. Prepare and serve meals under hygienic condition
4. Wash hands before and after handling food
5. Clean up after eating (i.e. tables, dishes and kitchen)
6. Prevent food contamination through proper storage and preservation
7. Dispose of refuse safely
8. Discourage children from eating unripe fruits.
Performance Objectives – Child: Should be able to:
1. Wash your hand before eating
2. Wash mouth and hands after eating
3. Make attempts at cleaning up the table of dishes, clean fresh foods
4. Wash fruits before Eating
5. Avoid unripe fruits.
Content:
1. Food hygiene
2. Kitchen hygiene
3. Personal hygiene
. Well selected foods
. Clean kitchen
. Clean utensils
. Clean surrounding
. Well cooked food
Well-kept kitchen.
Provide waste
Baskets with lids
. Dispose as often as possible
5. Food and water storage.
Activities – Parent/Caregiver:
1. Discuss selection of food items
2. Serve food hygienically
3. Store and preserve food properly
4. Wash hands and cooking utensils
5. Keep left over food covered
6. Warm left over food before serving
7. Wash hands after use of toilet or handling of children’s faces
8. Wash vegetables before cutting.
9. Cook foods using correct method.
9. Wash fruit before eating.
Activities – Child:
1. Keep kitchen clean with everything in its place
2. Wash food items before cooking
3. Attempting cleaning table, plate or dish after eating
4. Cover your food
5. Wash fruit before eating
6. Avoid unripe fruits.
Caring/Learning Materials:
• Pots
• Plates
• Cups
• Spoons
• Broom
• Soap
• Pictures of neat and dirty surroundings
• Food items
• Waste baskets
• hand towels
• wash hand basins
• covered plastics for storage of water.
Evaluation Guide:
Child
Maintain clean food habit
Parent/caregiver/teacher
1. Clean and orderly kitchen
2. Hygienic cooking, serving and preservation of foods.
3. Food prepared and served under hygienic conditions
3. Safe disposal of refuse.
Week 3
Topic: Adequate Diet.
Performance Objectives – Parent/Caregiver: Should be able to:
1. Discuss and demonstrate proper food selection
2. Identify and discourage unhealthy foods and bad eating habit seating habits
3. Observe and identify sign and symptoms of malnutrition
4. Identify and discourage local taboos
5. Prepare and serve meals under hygienic conditions
6. Provide snacks and food at the Centre
7. Avoid gender preference in food distribution.
Performance Objectives – Child: Should be able to:
1. Accept adult Foods
3. Familiar with foods in locality for adequate diet
4. Take one meal at school/Centre
5. Identify harmful foods and habits e.g. Sweets
Content:
1. Good feeding practices
2. Available food in the community
3. Basic functions of food
A. growth food (bodybuilding)
B. energy foods
C. protective food (look under healthy foods for list of a, b, c)
4. Harmful substances e.g. excessive intake of sugars and candies, sweet.
5. Centre feeding
6. Food related disorder:
. Night blindness
. Kwashiorkor
. Marasmus
. Rockets
. Dental caries
. Obesity
7. Food deficiency diseases such as kwashiorkor, marasmus, pellagra, night blindness, anemia etc.
- local food taboos
- adequate food preparation
- food hygiene
- Family food distribution food supplement.
Activities – Parent/Caregiver:
1. Display of various foods within the community
2. Select food from various food groups
3. Display of posters of food groups and functions in child Centre/school
4. Encourage children to bring snacks to the Centre/school to eat as a group
5. Prepare adequate meal for children
6. Display posters showing various causes of malnourished children
7. Discuss food related disorder with children e.g. allergy, food poisoning
8. Observe signs of food related disorders in children.
9. Discuss and treat food related diseases e.g. kwashiorkor, marasmus, food allergy and stomach problems
10. Serve food in proper proportion
11. Demonstrate good eating habit
12. Establish gardens at home and centers.
13. Prepare just enough food for the day
14. Minimize frying of foods to enhance digestion
15. Distribute food Appropriately
Activities – Child:
1. Eat a variety of meals and healthy foods in a socially acceptable manner
2. Identify harmful foods and habits e.g. sweets
3. Wash hands before and after meals
4. Wash mouth after eating.
Caring/Learning Materials:
- Different food items e.g. yams, garri, rice, meat, fish, vegetables, fruits etc.
- Simple cooking equipment and utensils
- Cardboards
- Growth charts
- Posters of adequate food items
- Pictures of malnourished and healthy children
- Soap
- Water
- Basin
- Towel
- Cutlery
- Cups
- Stoves
- Kerosene
- Firewood
- Napkin/hand towel
- Vegetable garden
Evaluation Guide:
Child
1. Eat adult food
2. Accept adequate food
3. Reduced incidence and severity of common childhood illness
4. Appreciate foods available in the locality
5. Reject harmful foods and habit e.g. sweets
Parent/caregiver/teacher
1. Select and prepare adequate food for different ages
2. Unhealthy foods and bad eating habits identified and discouraged
3. knowledgeable about signs and symptoms of malnutrition.
Week 4
Topic: food Taboos
Performance Objectives – Parent/Caregiver: Should be able to:
1. Identify harmful food taboos and practices
2. Discourage harmful food taboos within the community
3. List the effects of harmful feeding practices related to children
4. Discourage the giving of local concoction to children
Performance Objectives – Child: Should be able to:
1. Describe some harmful practices
2. Discuss some food taboos
Content:
1. Common harmful feeding practices e.g.
A. food taboos
B. eating from common plate
C. giving less portentous food e.g. meal, egg, etc.
D. feeding during and after illnesses
2. Effect of harmful feeding practices
3. Local existing food taboos.
Activities – Parent/Caregiver:
- discuss the dangers of harmful feeding practices food taboos
A. eating from common plate etc.
- discuss feeding of the child during and after illness
- discuss with resource persons in the community about local food taboos
- Create food taboo scenarios for children to dramatize or role play.
Activities – Child:
1. Dramatize or role- play some food taboo scenarios
2. List some food taboo.
Caring/Learning Materials:
• Charts/pictures/posters/films showing harmful feeding practices and effect
• Television/radio programs/jingles advocating against harmful food practices.
Evaluation Guide:
Child
1. Food taboos and harmful practices rejected
Parent/caregiver/teacher
1. knowledgeable about of harmful feeding practices
2. knowledgeable about feeding during and after illness
3. Local food taboos broken.
National Early Childhood Education Curriculum for Food and Nutrition Ages 3- 5 Years
Week 5
Topic: Feeding during illness
Performance Objectives – Parent/Caregiver: Should be able to:
1. Provide liquid food to child.
2. Should feed the child frequently in small portion,
Performance Objectives – Child: Should be able to:
1. Accept food during illness.
Content:
Feeding in relation to sickness and diseases.
Activities – Parent/Caregiver:
1. Give small portion of food at a time.
2. Give food frequently.
3. Give liquid food.
4. Give variety of food acceptable to the child.
Activities – Child:
Ask for water, or any desired food.
Caring/Learning Materials:
• Different food items, plates, cups, spoons etc.
• Pap, water, tea etc.
• Different foods: pap, water, tea, bread, snacks etc.
• Fruits- apple, orange, pawpaw etc.
• Cooking utensils- pot, plates, cups, spoons etc.
• Cutleries- spoon, fork etc.
Evaluation Guide:
Child
1. Eat during illness in order to recover quickly
Parent/caregiver/teacher
1. Appropriate foods provided
2. Prompt to deal with sick child’s needs for food
3. knowledgeable about feeding during and after their illness.
Week 6
Topic: Good and bad feeding habits.
Performance Objectives – Parent/Caregiver: Should be able to:
1. Identify and encourage good feeding habits
Identify some bad feeding habits in the locality
Washing of hands before and after eating
. Forced feeding
. Eating between meals
. Over feeding
. Preference for meals to be served up first
3. Discuss and encourage advantages of good feeding habits
4. Discuss the disadvantages of bad habits and discourage them
5. Avoid gender preference in food distribution.
Performance Objectives – Child: Should be able to:
1. Say good feeding habits
2. Say bad feeding habits
3. List advantages of good feeding habits
4. List disadvantages of bad feeding habits
Content:
1. Common feeding habits in the environment
2. Child feeding practices
3. Personal hygiene with regards to feeding
Simple rule to guide child eating habits
. Washing of hands
. Food etiquette
Activities – Parent/Caregiver:
1. Display various food items
2. Show pictures of chart of different kinds of food
3. Identify and discuss various feeding habits (good and bad)
4. Discuss simple rules
Activities – Child:
1. Demonstrate good feeding habits as well as bad feeding habits
2. Sing songs and recite rhymes on bad feeding habits
3. Wash hands before and after eating
4. Wash fruits before eating
5. Eat only at meal times
6. Eat just enough.
Caring/Learning Materials:
• Pictures showing families at meal
• Basin
• Water
• Soap
• Chart showing food group
• Cutlery
Evaluation Guide:
Child
1. Good eating habit practiced
2. Fruits washed before eating
3. Good feeding habits practiced
4. Bad feeding habits avoided.
Parent/caregiver/teacher
1. Good feeding habits exhibited.
Week 7
Topic: Harmful Feeding Practices
Performance Objectives – Parent/Caregiver: Should be able to
- Discourage the taking of substances such as too much sugar, sweets.
- Discourage the giving of local concoctions to children.
- Discourage the eating of raw foods.
Performance Objectives – Child: Should be able to
- Avoid taking too much sugar.
- Differentiate between safe and unsafe foods, by sight and smell.
- Identify some harmful habits in the local community.
Content:
- Local feeding practices e.g.
- Available foods in the community
- Harmful substances e.g. excessive intake of sugar, sweets
- Classes of food
. Body building
.energy giving
. Protection giving basic functions of food in relation to health
Activities – Parent/Caregiver:
- display various foods in the community
- display pictures of good and bad foods Discuss the 3.effect of harmful feeding practices
- discuss food related disorders in children e.g. too much sweets, causes running stomach
Activities – Child:
- Talk about harmful foods. Tell stories of victims of harmful foods known to them.
- identify safe and unsafe feeding practices
- List the effect of harmful feeding practices related to children.
Caring/Learning Materials:
- various food stuff, good and bad ones
- Picture of some harmful practices e.g. children eating raw mangoes.
- picture of child being treated at hospital or clinic
- picture of children with various food related problems e.g. Kwashiorkor
- different cooking utensils
- picture of a children being forced fed
Evaluation Guide:
Child
1. Recognize the importance of food health and the dangers of bad fed recognized
2. Harmful foods rejected
3. Safe and unsafe food by sight and smell identified.
National Early Childhood Education Food and Nutrition Curriculum for Ages 3- 5 Years
Week 8
Topic: food supplement
Performance Objectives – Parent/Caregiver: Should be able to
- identify some food supplements available for different age group
- discuss what they supplement
- identify where they are sold
- Provide supplement.
Performance Objectives – Child: Should be able to
- differentiate food supplements from other drugs
- Identify where supplements are sold.
Content:
1. Types of supplements
2. Importance of supplements
3. Functions of supplements
4. Sources of food supplements e.g. pharmacy.
Activities – Parent/Caregiver:
1. Identify food supplement
2. Give food supplement
3. Visit pharmaceutical stores.
Activities – Child:
- identify food supplement
- accept food supplement
- Visit pharmaceutical stores.
Caring/Learning Materials:
- Different food supplement
- Picture of food supplement
- Growth charts
- Animal protein e.g. eggs, fish, milk etc.
Evaluation Guide:
Child
- food supplement identified
- food supplement accepted Parent/caregiver/teacher
- knowledgeable about food supplement
- food supplement given
- Pharmaceutical stores visited.
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