MindChamps research shows ‘staggering’ number of adults are nutritionally illiterate

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) provider MindChamps has developed an Australian first Nutrition Literacy Programme after finding that 97 per cent of parents surveyed have a desire to improve their nutritional literacy. 

The provider was concerned to discover that more than a third of adults don’t know how to interpret a nutrition label correctly, one in two parents don’t read nutrition labels before making purchases, and one third of Australian families are failing to fulfil their child’s minimum daily nutritional requirements.

“At MindChamps, we’re starting a healthy eating movement to empower parents to make the best and most informed decisions when it comes to food,” MindChamps Australia Founder, CEO and Executive Chairman David Chiem explained.

“Lifelong habits start in the home, and we believe that a positive approach to food at a young age will lead to stronger bodies and minds later in life.”

The research was conducted as a baseline assessment of Australian parents’ nutritional literacy in conjunction with the newly launched MindChamps ChampionGold™ Standard Nutrition Programme. 

Despite the best possible intentions, the research shows that Australian parents aren’t feeding their children the daily required nutrients. 

This is primarily due to a fundamental lack of nutrition literacy and marketing misinformation, but there was also increased concerns about the cost of healthy food, with the study showing that more than one in four parents surveyed said they could not afford to feed their children a healthy meal.

Confidence not aligning with reality 

While many parents believe they can read a nutritional label when picking out their child’s food products, in reality, many can typically only identify basic items such as calories or overall sugar levels and most do not understand the remaining ingredients that are listed such as sodium levels, fibre and the types of sugar included. 

There are also over 60 hidden sugar names to fool prospective customers, as well as preservatives and additives including artificial colours and flavours that can impact a child’s health.

These are some of the issues that the MindChamps ChampionGold™ Standard Nutrition Programme aims to solve by empowering families to make a more educated choice when shopping for everyday staples such as yoghurt, crackers, sauces, cordials that contain these additives.

Problem permeating into ECEC 

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings are also failing to consistently create and invest in meal plans which meet children’s basic nutritional needs, the provider argues. 

The Federal Government stipulates that ECEC settings providing long-term care need to provide 50 per cent of a child’s daily nutritional intake (RDI) while in care, however if a child is dropped off at 7am and picked up at 6pm, the parent will need to provide the remaining fifty percent of their child’s nutritional intake in a single meal. 

This, MindChamps argues, “is near impossible” for most working families, where dinners are rushed, stressed and often not based on fresh homemade ingredients. 

To combat this, the provider has created meal plans for use in its services which provide children with 100 per cent of the RDI of essential vitamins and minerals such as iron, calcium, magnesium, folate, B vitamins, and eighty five percent of their energy needs.

The program commenced in MindChamps services in late 2022 with a menu overhaul, re-education of early education staff and cooks, and now is seeking to bring parents ‘into the classroom as well’ through a comprehensive learning programme of webinars, workshops, education on their child’s menu plan, and developing basic nutrition literacy skills, from reading nutrition labels, to understanding the importance of consuming the optimal daily intake of nutrients.

World renowned opthamologist Dr James Muecke, who was recently appointed Senior Fellow of MindChamps’ Global Research, Advisory and Programme Development Team made his first visit to a MindChamps centre earlier this month to get an in depth look into the programme. 

“I believe MindChamps sets the standard for nutrition programmes in Early Learning Centres in Australia,” he said.

Protein, healthy natural fats, micronutrients such as iron, and vitamins such as B12 are critical for neurological development and the physical and mental health of children. The MindChamps Nutrition Programme provides their Champs with 100 per cent of their daily requirements.”

Learn more about the programme here.