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Rebecca Hobbs

Unit 6- Promoting a Healthy Environment for Children

Within the setting it’s the sole responsibility of the practitioner to promote a healthy lifestyle and environment
for children, in appendix 1 (a job description for a nursery worker) it states that a practitioner must plan
experiences and environment taking into consideration all aspects of the child’s development, this is built
upon in appendix 2 (a council document on promoting health in early years settings) where it’s said that
settings must make special arrangements for children with dietary requirements to feel included within meal
times
...
This planning should be based on valid observations and assessments, it’s the
role of the practitioner to be proactive within this process, appendix 1 says that it’s the practitioners role
“to follow all routines, duties, timetables, rotas, record keeping activities” (Surrey County Council (2012)
Christopher Robin Day Nurseries Nursery Nurse/ Childcare Practitioner Job Description)
Routines such as toilet training and meal times allow the child to remain healthy and develop on their existing
skills, it’s the practitioners role to ensure that each of these routines is suited to the individual child’s needs,
e
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changing nappies regularly and using effective techniques to aid toilet training
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Appendix 2 gives an
example of this, stating practitioners should allow children access to fresh water throughout the day, making
children aware of this and encouraging them to drink more when they’re exercising or when it’s hot
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Children have the right to an adequate standard of living, as is stated in Article 27 of the UNCRC which
enforces Section 512 of the Education Act 1996, empowering local authorities to provide free school meals to
children up to the age of 7 in schools or to those who receive benefits
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These
meals are nutritious and provide the child with energy to complete the school day as well as helping with their
long term dietary needs
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This article is implemented
by The Childcare Act 2006 which forms the statutory framework for all childcare and early years provision,
placing the duty on local authorities to
“improve the wellbeing of young children in their area and reduce inequalities” (DfE (2010) UNCRC: how
legislation underpins implementation in England)
The Children Act 2004 not only supports children but their parents and carers
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The act sets out
five outcomes for children, these being:
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
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Stay safe- focusing on keeping children safe from all types of abuse, crime and discrimination
Be healthy- This includes physically, mentally and emotionally, also including a healthy lifestyle and
keeping children from illegal drugs
Enjoy and achieve- This refers to the child’s emotional wellbeing in relation to their learning, ensuring
that they’re enjoying what they’re doing in order to be successful

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Rebecca Hobbs





Achieve economic wellbeing- This refers to the wider world in which the child lives, ensuring that
they’ll be success with everyday life including supporting the community and environment, learning to
be law abiding and dealing with changes and challenges in life
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These outcomes are achieved when practitioners work closely with a range of other professionals through
multi-agency working such as the common assessment framework
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The Working together to safeguard children 2010 act not only protects children from abuse but focuses on the
wider view of safeguarding, ranging from bullying and accidents to crime, going missing and forced marriages
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In order to uphold high standards of safety, practitioners must
undergo appropriate training, with a senior member of staff in charge of safeguarding organisation
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Risk assessments must also be completed prior to the event/activity planned to ensure that there are
no safeguarding risks to the children, for example, taking into consideration any adults that may come into
contact with the children on a trip
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A baby’s initial health and development is
determined by the health of the mother during pregnancy, factors such as alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco
consumption can have a negative effect on the baby’s health; the children of mothers who don’t lead healthy
lifestyles while pregnant may suffer long term health problems
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Consuming caffeine and smoking while pregnant can also harm he unborn baby, smoking decreases the
amount of oxygen the baby receives hence stunting its physical development
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A child’s needs adapt and change as they grow up, children from families
living in poverty or without the means to provide healthy food will suffer consequences to their health;
similarly, if parents are unaware of what their child’s nutritional needs are or how to eat healthily they may be
affecting their child’s development or every putting them in danger of health problems, parent’s should set an
example to children being a positive role model
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The current recession has put pressure on everyone, especially parents; their
financial situation can have major consequences on the child’s wellbeing, as is shown in appendix 3
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Children who’re constantly cold and
damn are susceptible to illnesses such as colds, some damp in houses can also cause harm to a person’s
respiratory system
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A study

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Rebecca Hobbs

conducted by researchers at Bristol University looked into the effects of a poor diet on a child’s IQ in which
“The researchers found that eating a diet high in sugar, fats and processed food at the age of three was
associated with a lower IQ at eight-and-a-half years old
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Most children will eat at least one meal within the setting; these meal routines help the child to maintain a
healthy lifestyle
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Meals times allow children to interact and socialise with their peers and adults,
helping to build and maintain relationships
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Meal times
should be enjoyable times and practitioners should try to make the activity interesting, by making healthy food
fun, children will be more likely to make healthier options later in life
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Children should get regular exercise in order to stay healthy, children often get exercise through play and
should be encouraged to do this
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I have recently done an activity with the children aged 4-6 in which we made fruit kebabs
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First, I got the children to put
on aprons and wash their hands; I showed them how to do this properly, using soap and I told the children
why this is important before preparing food
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All of the children were given plastic knives and soft fruits to have a try at cutting while I went around the
group with a real knife showing the children on a 1:1 basis how to cut fruit safely
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I
ensured I only had a small group of children for this activity so that I could supervise all of them and ensure
they were all using the safety techniques I had shown them
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Sitting with their peers discussing the activity helps with their social developments
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Physical
education lessons can help children to learn new, fun ways to exercise, before these sessions it’s important to
get the children changed into more suitable clothes, this will allow them to move about more freely and also
they’ll have clean clothes to change into after
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For a group of 4-6 year olds, a suitable activity might be asking the
children to walk around the space without touching anybody then, at the adults cue, they change how they
move around the space
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A warm up should be done at the beginning of all sessions to ensure that the children
don’t injure themselves while exercising as well as a cool down at the end of the session, as well as this, water

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Rebecca Hobbs

should be provided to the children at regular intervals and after they’ve finished, this keeps them hydrated
and prevents dehydration and heat stroke in hotter weather
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Once these skills are learned the child will be able to carry out similar tasks independently, teaching
children ways to help themselves is just as important as help them yourself
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Knowing whether a child is below, on, or above average development stage for their age is
essential to providing appropriate care for children
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Working closely with parents allows for the
practitioner to gage an understanding of the child’s development stage in other areas, the practitioner can
then provide the correct care for example feeding a baby with a bottle and knowing when to wean them only
solid food, this can also help the parent, who may not have very good knowledge of a child development
stages and they can come to the practitioner for advice
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Not all
children of the same age will be at the same stage of development and the practitioner must understand this
and value each child individually and provide suitable provision for every child taking into consideration their
stage of development

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