From guidelines to practice: Supporting long day care cooks

The Menu planning guidelines for long day care assists centres to plan a nutritious and balanced menu for 1- 5-year-old children. They are based on the Australian Dietary Guidelines and are consistent with the recommendations in the Australian Government’s policy Get Up & Grow: Healthy Eating and Physical Activity for Early Childhood. These guidelines will assist your service to meet Quality Area 2 of the National Quality Standard to provide nutritious meals to children in long day care.

The guidelines specify the minimum number of children’s serves from each food group that should be provided to 1-5 year old children each day in long day care.

A Cooks Network is a collaborative community of long day care cooks that meet regularly to network, share knowledge and develop their skills to align with the Menu planning guidelines for long day care.

The Cohealth Cooks Network was developed through a collaboration between the City of Melbourne and the Cohealth Health Promotion team with support from the Healthy Eating Advisory Service (HEAS).

Over time, cooks reported increased confidence in applying the Menu planning guidelines. They became more engaged in using practical tools and resources to review menus and make achievable changes.

Beyond technical skills, cooks highlighted the importance of making meals colourful, varied, and enjoyable, reinforcing children’s positive relationships with food. Many were also keen to extend food learning beyond the kitchen; in response, Cohealth distributed a small set of children’s books about food, trying new foods, and eating together, which services incorporated into their programs.

This helped link nourishment with learning and curiosity, strengthening collaboration between cooks and educators.

One cook said, “The children are already loving them and reading [the books]… I’ve given them a special place on my kitchen bookshelf.”

The Cohealth Cooks Network highlights how cooks can be supported to connect, share ideas, and build confidence in applying the Menu planning guidelines in practical, meaningful ways.

Through a partnership between Cohealth and HEAS, the network has created a supportive space where cooks feel heard, valued, and equipped with the right tools to make achievable changes in their menus. Cohealth have done an excellent job bringing this to life through both group learning and hands-on, in-service support that meets cooks where they are.