Getting started with the Menu planning guidelines for long day care

Early childhood services

Use the tables in this resource to make sure you offer enough food from each core food group to meet the nutrition needs of 1–5-year-old children in care. 

Young child dishing up food on a table

Overview

This resource provides a visual overview of some of the key elements of the Menu planning guidelines for long day care to help you get started with the basics.

Use the tables in this resource to make sure you offer enough food from each core food group to meet the nutrition needs of 1–5 year old children in care. 

A ‘children’s serve’ refers to the portion of food from each food group that is appropriate for 1–5 year old children. 

To be practical in the childcare setting, the children’s serve sizes have been adapted from the standard serve sizes in the Australian Dietary Guidelines. [1] 

This document should be used along with the full menu planning guidelines for your service. The menu planning guidelines specify the types and amount of foods to supply each day. 

These are guidelines for:

  • long day care
  • family day care 

Essential foods for menu planning

Food groupOne child's serve is
Lean meat and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds and legumes/beans




Note: Offer 1 children’s serve of lean meat, poultry, fish or alternatives per child per day to meet the menu planning guideline requirements.
50g of raw meat/poultry or equivalent, such as:

50g raw lean red meat (e.g. beef, lamb, kangaroo), lean pork or
poultry without the bone
30g lean cooked red meat
40g cooked chicken (skin off)
60g raw fish or 50g canned or cooked fish
35g dry weight beans or legumes or 85g (½ cup) cooked or
canned (drained) beans or legumes
15g peanut butter or nuts (if centre policy allows)
1 egg
20g dry weight Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)
85g tofu
60g hummus

This is equal to half a serve of lean meat and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds and legumes/beans in the Australian Dietary Guidelines.
Fruit



Note: Offer 1 children’s serve of fruit per child per day to meet the menu planning guideline requirements.
75g of fruit or equivalent, such as:

75g fresh fruit* (1 small piece, ½ medium piece or equivalent amount of 2–3 types)

75g (½ cup) diced, cooked or canned (drained) fruit

15g dried fruit#

This is equal to half a serve of fruit in the Australian Dietary Guidelines.
Vegetables and legumes/beans




Note: Offer 1–1½ children’s serves of vegetables and legumes/beans per child per day to meet the menu planning guideline requirements.
75g of vegetables/legumes or equivalent, such as:

75g fresh, frozen, canned (drained) or cooked vegetables* (½ cup cooked, 1 cup salad, ½ medium potato)

30g dry weight beans or legumes or 75g (½ cup) cooked or canned beans or legumes (drained)

This is equal to one serve of vegetables and legumes/beans in the Australian Dietary Guidelines.

Milk, yoghurt, cheese and/or alternatives




Note: Offer 2 children’s serves of milk, yoghurt, cheese or calcium fortified alternatives per child per day to meet the menu planning guideline requirements
100mL of milk or equivalent, such as:

100mL milk/calcium fortified soy or rice drink

50mL evaporated milk

15g milk powder

100mL custard

80g yoghurt/calcium fortified soy yoghurt

15g hard cheese (1 slice), 50g ricotta cheese

This is just under half a serve of milk, yoghurt, cheese and/or alternatives in the Australian Dietary Guidelines.

Grain (cereal) foods




Note: Offer 2 children’s serves of grain (cereal) foods per child per day to meet the menu planning guideline requirements.

35g raw potato can be counted as grain food if the menu meets minimum vegetable requirements
1 slice of bread or equivalent, such as:

40g bread (1 slice, ½ medium roll or flatbread)

1 crumpet or small English muffin

30g breakfast cereal (⅔ cup), 2 Weetbix™ or similar, ¼ cup muesli or porridge 30g dry/uncooked (1/2 cup if cooked/boiled) rice, pasta, noodles, couscous, barley, buckwheat, semolina, cornmeal, quinoa, polenta

1/3 cup of fresh/uncooked pasta

30g flour (¼ cup)

35g crispbread (3–4 cracker biscuits or crispbread, 3 thick rice cakes, 6 thin rice cakes or corn thins, 12 plain rice crackers)

This is equal to one serve of grain (cereal) foods in the Australian Dietary Guidelines.

* Some hard, raw fruit and vegetables such as carrot, celery and apple may need to be cooked, mashed, grated or very finely sliced to reduce risk of choking .

# Dried fruit leaves a sticky residue on teeth and can contribute to tooth decay. If included on the menu it should only be offered once per week.

  1. Australian Dietary Guidelines 

For more information please phone 1300 22 52 88 or email heas@nutritionaustralia.org.au

Except where otherwise indicated, the images in this document show models and illustrative settings only, and do not necessarily depict actual services, facilities or recipients of services. This document may contain images of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In this document, ‘Aboriginal’ refers to both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. ‘Indigenous’ or ‘Koori/Koorie’ is retained when part of the title of a report, program or quotation. Copyright © State of Victoria 2016

Written and reviewed by dietitians and nutritionists at Nutrition Australia, with support from the Victorian Government.

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