If you’ve been following along for a while, you’ll know how passionate I am about giving children the best possible start when it comes to food. So you’ll see why I’m very happy that after six years without an update, the Government has released new nutrition guidance for early years settings in England – including nurseries – which is a huge step in supporting the nutrition of young children throughout the UK.
I was one of the consultants on the new guidance which will be rolled out from September 2025 and this guidance will be formally embedded into the “Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework”, meaning the childcare providers must have regard to it and are expected to follow the guidelines, unless there’s a compelling reason not to.
So, what’s changed – and why does it matter?
I’ve talked a lot about the first 1000 days and why it matters not just for the here and now of young children’s health, but for their future health and even the health of their future children…
The Outdated Government Nursery Food Guidelines
The previous guidance, Example Menus for Early Years Settings in England (2017), offered a helpful starting point but had become outdated in several key areas. For instance, it included food safety advice that no longer aligned with current recommendations (such as suggesting popcorn and ham for children under-5s), and it lacked clarity on topics such as sugar, salt and saturated fat limits. There wasn’t enough information either on how to cater for a range of diverse dietary needs.
The new guidance addresses these gaps with a comprehensive, evidence-based approach. It covers nutrition from birth to age five, including breastfeeding, weaning, and balanced meals for toddlers and preschoolers. It also introduces:
- Guidance for nurseries to implement the EYFS standards that state “Where children are provided with meals, snacks and drinks, these must be healthy, balanced and nutritious” with a clear explanation of what this actually means.
- Stricter recommendations on salt and sugar
- A reduced emphasis on sweet puddings, including more variety in the types of meals that are served (e.g. not always lunch and a pudding).
- Support for children with allergies, intolerances, or additional dietary needs
- Advice on food safety, hygiene, and cost-effective healthy eating practices
All of this is designed to help nurseries offer meals that are balanced, nutritious, and developmentally appropriate – which is exactly what our little ones need to develop to their full potential.
Why is this guidance needed?
Early childhood is a critical window for shaping lifelong eating habits and reducing health inequalities. Yet, recent research shows that only 21% to 48.8% of early years educators currently use the existing Government guidance when serving food to young children. This inconsistency – often influenced by the nursery or catering provider – means that many children may be missing out on the benefits of a balanced, nutritious diet during their early years. Especially those that are in nursery of childcare settings regularly and from a young age.
By embedding the new guidance into the EYFS framework, the Government is sending a clear message: nutrition is not an optional extra – it’s a core part of safeguarding and supporting children’s development. And this is a statement I fully stand behind.
What do nurseries need to know?
For nurseries, this is both a challenge and an opportunity. Implementing the new guidance will require thoughtful menu planning, staff training, and in some cases, a shift in food culture. But it also offers a chance to:
- Improve children’s health outcomes
- Build stronger relationships with families through transparent food policies
- Create more inclusive, flexible mealtime routines
- Reduce the burden on individual settings by using shared resources and best practices
- Encourage more communications between staff and parents about the food on offer in nurseries
If you’re a parent, a nursery provider, or someone working in early years, I’d really encourage you to take a look at the new guidance. And if you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed, don’t worry – I’ll be sharing more tips, resources, and practical advice to help you make sense of it all and put it into practice in the future!
Some of the changes I’m excited to see:
- An emphasis on this being an important time in children’s lives
- The emphasis on this being part of the EYFS statutory framework
- More clarity on using lower sugar, salt and saturated fat foods and guidelines on what those levels are e.g. <22.5g sugar/100g for medium to low sugar levels on cereal, for example
- No processed meats in the menu suggestions
- Emphasis on variety
- Conversations around allergens and diverse diets
- Suggestions around communications with parents
AND
- Less of a focus on sweet/sugary puddings being offered every day – the guidance now recommends, starters, sides or second courses to go along with the main lunches served at settings and offers plenty of savoury ideas for this. This is not to say that a pudding can’t ever be offered, but it needs to be “low in sugar” and be based on fruits or dairy and absolutely doesn’t need to be offered at every lunch!
Some of these changes are quite big ones for catering companies and nurseries to put into place. But they will likely make a huge difference to children’s health in the long run!
I’m always talking about the importance of early exposure to a variety of foods, and how those early experiences can shape a child’s relationship with food for life. These new guidelines will go some way to promoting that if we can get nurseries and early years staff on board.
Because feeding little ones doesn’t have to be complicated – but it does need to be thoughtful.
I’m proud to work alongside Zebedees because they truly share my mission of giving children the best nutritional start in life. Their commitment goes well beyond simply meeting Government guidelines – they are constantly evolving, reviewing, and refining their menus to ensure they reflect the latest evidence and best practice.
I’ll be working with them to ensure their excellent menus will be meeting and exceeding these new guidelines going forward. However, I also believe that children across the sector deserve to have healthy, balanced meals on offer each day at Nursery and want to share advice to help other nurseries to go some way to doing this.
I wish these guidelines would be mandatory, but I understand why at this point they cant be (funding, finances and lack of ability to provide enough support from the government). But we need to be shouting about them a lot to get nurseries to make positive changes to the foods the currently serve to young children!
Please see my other blog on how nursery food standards are changing and what parents can do about it.