The latest issue of Children in Europe magazine, out on Monday (27 March), features an analysis of food in nurseries, kindergartens and schools in ten countries. Details include how much meals cost, sample menus, whether children are involved in preparation, and the role parents play.
A typical lunch for two- to six-year-olds in cole maternelles (nursery schools) in Strasbourg, for example, might start with endive and nut salad, followed by meatloaf with haricot and flageolet beans, edam cheese and a clementine.
Writing in the magazine, Donatella Giovannini, education co-ordinator for the Pistoia region of Italy, said, 'Lunch is an important social and convivial occasion in daily life.' Children take turns to sit at 'the big table' and draw names out of a hat to be the waiter, ending lunch with a song and a pretend coffee.
Bronwen Cowen, chief executive of Children in Scotland, which publishes Children in Europe, said children in European countries were more likely to eat with their peers because they are offered full-time sessions, while most three- and four-year-olds in the UK attend part-time.
'Eating meals in a social setting with peers and participating with food from the early years is likely to offset serious problems arising in later life, such as obesity and eating disorders,' she said.
Children in Europe, issue 10, can be ordered from www.childreninscotland.org.uk/cie.
