Love what you eat: Nutrition campaign offers practical tools for ECEC settings

The National Nutrition Foundation’s “Love What You Eat” campaign promotes positive relationships with food at every stage from planning and preparation to eating and reducing waste. For early childhood education and care (ECEC) services, the campaign’s resources offer a practical way to support food literacy, healthy habits and mealtime enjoyment in the early years.

A dedicated children’s edition complements the broader campaign, offering age-appropriate materials that encourage children to explore food variety, mealtime routines and positive attitudes towards eating. These resources are free to download and easy to adapt for ECEC environments.

Children receive a significant portion of their daily nutrition in care. Under the National Quality Framework (NQF), ECEC services have a responsibility to promote children’s health and wellbeing, including through nutritious food and positive mealtime experiences.

The “Love What You Eat” resources support this by offering:

• Simple messages about balanced eating and enjoyment
• Visual prompts that help children recognise variety on the plate
• Tools to engage families and educators in healthy food conversations
• Tips to manage food waste and support sustainable practices

Available via the National Nutrition Foundation’s Healthy Eating Hub, the campaign materials include:

• Kids Edition: Story-based resources, activity prompts and visuals designed for use with young children in care.
• “Love Your Plate” visual guide: Helps children see the value of including a variety of foods from all five food groups.
• Mealtime habit guides (“Love How You Eat”): Practical tips for setting up positive, calm and engaging mealtimes.
• Recipe collections: Healthy, budget-friendly recipes that can be used in service kitchens or shared with families.
• Waste and storage tools: Support messages around sustainability and safe food practices.
• Stakeholder kit: Social media assets and templates to promote the campaign to families and staff.

These materials are designed to be flexible and can be used to complement existing programs or policies.

Embed into daily routines and discussions

The Kids Edition materials can be used during group times, mealtimes, or story sessions to spark food-related curiosity. For example:

• Discuss where foods come from or how they taste
• Use the “Love Your Plate” visual as a talking point during lunch
• Encourage children to name and describe new foods they try

Educators can model interest in food, respectful mealtime behaviours and curiosity, aligning with Quality Area 2 (Children’s health and safety) and Quality Area 5 (Relationships with children) under the NQF.

Involve families and the broader service community

Using the stakeholder kit, services can:

• Share recipes or visuals in newsletters
• Display posters and prompts in family areas
• Invite families to contribute their own favourite foods or stories

This promotes consistency between home and care, supporting shared messages around healthy eating and enjoyment.

Support professional development and policy review

Educators can use the mealtime habit tools as part of team reflections or training sessions. Services may also consider reviewing their nutrition policy to include:

• How food is presented and discussed
• Educator roles during mealtimes
• How food waste is managed and minimised

This helps embed the campaign principles into standard practice and quality improvement plans.

The “Love What You Eat” materials align with several key frameworks and standards relevant to ECEC:

• Australian Dietary Guidelines: Promote food variety and balance across five food groups.
• Eat for Health resources: Provide government-backed information on portion sizes and dietary needs.
• National Quality Standard (NQS): Quality Area 2 requires services to support children’s health, including nutrition.
• Sustainability in ECEC: Many services are incorporating waste minimisation and sustainability into programs, supported by the campaign’s waste-focused tools.

When introducing new food-related initiatives, services can be aware of:

• Cultural and dietary diversity: Adapt resources and recipes to reflect the cultural backgrounds and dietary needs of children and families.
• Allergy management: Modify shared activities or recipes to avoid allergens and follow service policies.
• Available facilities: Ensure the kitchen setup and educator capacity align with planned activities.
• Engagement over time: Use campaign elements gradually to build familiarity and interest.

The “Love What You Eat” campaign offers accessible, evidence-informed tools that support early childhood educators to promote healthy food behaviours and positive mealtime experiences. With a focus on enjoyment, variety, and sustainability, the campaign aligns closely with sector values and regulatory requirements.

For more information or to download resources, visit the National Nutrition Foundation’s Healthy Eating Hub.