Nourishing Little Minds® combines early childhood literacy with experiential play-based learning to enrich children’s interest, enjoyment and exposure to a variety of food.
Nourishing Little Minds (NLM) is an early childhood food exposure program proven to increase children’s interest and willingness to try new foods through positive food experiences. Facilitated by Accredited Practising Dietitians, NLM supports the development of healthy eating habits of young children, with a particular emphasis on vegetables and food variety.
Partnering with existing community assets such as libraries, the NLM program links early childhood literacy with hands-on sensory food exploration activities and positive food experiences supported by responsive feeding practices.
Between 2019 and 2022, the ACTNSS team rolled out NLM across 7 ACT libraries reaching 489 children. Funded by ACT Government under the ACT Health Promotion Grants program, NLM was a great success that increased vegetable consumption among children under 5 years. Check out the highlights below:
“It made me aware of ways other than eating to incorporate healthy food into my child’s day (e.g books, songs toys) and gave me some new ideas for recipes to try/foods to offer.“
“… as a first time mum this has given me more confidence in the foods that I offer and given me more food ideas to introduce.”
“This program got my son excited about vegetables. He now likes to try more foods and is excited to prepare his own food.“
The NLM facilitator program is currently under development. If you would like to be kept up to date about when the program is ready to access, click here to register your interest.
Nourishing Little Minds is a registered trademark of Nutrition Australia ACT Inc.
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