Making early childhood centres safer and healthier

Community and Public Health supports health, wellbeing and safety in early childhood. Early learning services such as childcare centres play an essential role in the education, health and life of pre-school children.

Community and Public Health staff provide the following services for early childhood centres:

• Support and advice to help make centres healthy environments where children, whānau and staff can flourish. This includes having a strong cultural identify, and encouraging positive mental wellbeing, being active, healthy eating and good oral health.
• Health and safety assessments on new or existing centres as requested under the Ministry of Education’s Early Childhood Centres Regulations. This assessment is from a public health perspective – looking at compliance with legislative requirements and assessment of health risk. Please note: there is a charge for this assessment.
• General health and safety advice to Early Childhood Centres, including for new proposed centres or renovations to existing centres.
• Assistance with Resource Management Applications for Early Childhood Centres.

Community and Public Health can also provide specialist advice on public health issues such as:

• water;
• oral health;
• disease outbreaks; and
• chemical hazards.

• Get information on nutrition and physical activity for preschoolers (Healthy Nibbles for Tots).
• Wellbeing and Vitality in Education (WAVE) is involved with early childhood settings in South Canterbury.

Protecting pre-schoolers from infectious diseases

Early childhood centres present health risks to children, staff and other people who spend time at the centre. There is potential for disease transmission because:

• Children under five years (because of their developmental stage) are likely to have poorly developed personal hygiene habits;
• There is a high level of physical contact between children;
• Nappy changing is considered to be a high risk activity;
• Food may be shared; and
• Children tend to place items in their mouths and may contaminate those items – spreading the risk of disease.

Disease transmission within early childhood centres may have implications for the wider community, particularly parents, caregivers and friends of children attending. By maintaining effective public health oversights through assessment, enforcement and health promotion, health and safety risks in early childhood centre environments will be reduced.

• Community and Public Health’s Early Childhood Centre Information Pack (revised December 2017) is specifically developed for those planning to establish a new centre.
  It covers health requirements relating to design, physical environments and health policies that will be necessary to consider at the planning stages for a new centre. The pack provides the necessary information to ensure that a centre will meet the health component of the licensing requirement.
• Download an example of a Cleaning Schedule for Early Childhood Centres, which is included in the Information Pack.

Documents

• Sit Less, Move More, Sleep Well: Active play guidelines for under-fives resources (Ministry of Health 2018).
• Active movement activity guides for children 0-5 years (Sport New Zealand 2017) – available in Te Reo Māori.
• Strong Foundations: Getting it Right in the First 1000 Days (Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne 2017).
• Growing up in NZ Study – Now we are four: Describing the preschool years (Growing Up in New Zealand 2017).
• The Best Start in Life: Achieving effective action on child health and wellbeing (National Health Committee 2011).
• Food and Nutrition Guidelines for Infants and Toddlers – A Background Paper (Ministry of Health 2008 and 2012).
• Food and Nutrition Guidelines for Healthy Children and Young People (Aged 2–18 years): A background paper (Ministry of Health 2012 and 2015).

Downloads

Download or order resources from the Community Health Information Centre.

• Eating for Healthy Babies and Toddlers: From birth to 2 years old
• Ka Pai Kai: Easy steps to great lunches!
• Keeping Healthy in Early Childhood Centres
• Cleaning and Disinfection Guidelines for Gastroenteritis Outbreaks
• Brush baby teeth morning and night – Te Reo Māori
• Headlice
• Measles

Links

• All Right? Parenting Hub
• Kids Matter (Australian Childhood Mental Health Initiative) – online learning modules on mental health for professional development
• Well Child/Tamariki Ora (Ministry of Health)
• Kids Health
• My Family Food
• Early Learning (0 to 6 years) (Ministry of Education)
• Poisonous Plants in New Zealand (Landcare Research)