Healthy Heart Award for Early Childhood Education
What is the Healthy Heart Award?
The Healthy Heart Award is a free-of-charge programme that encourages early childhood centres to promote healthy eating and active movement to the under fives and their families. The programme provides early childhood centre staff with nutrition and active movement information, planning tools and curriculum guides, to assist with the implementation of healthier food choices and active movement.
Who can get an award?
The award is suitable for any type of early childhood centre - kindergarten, full day care, playcentre, Pacific centre or kōhanga reo.
What are the criteria for getting an award?
There are seven criteria that centres need to satisfy to get an award:
- Provision of food which includes either sending in guidelines for parents about lunchbox contents or sending in a copy of the menu if the centre has a food service
- Written nutrition policy
- Written active movement policy
- Parent/whānau education
- Professional development
- Curriculum linked physical activity including documenting daily active movement available for the children
- Curriculum linked nutrition activities including documenting weekly healthy food activities available to the children.
How does my centre apply for the award?
Please contact 0800 863 375 or email education@nhf.org.nz now!
Healthy Heart for ECEs Resources
These lesson plans are ideas for Early Childhood settings to use throughout the year to teach children about the heart, physical effects on the heart and nutrition.
