Browsing by Author "Pöllänen, Heidi"

Objectives. The objective of the study was to clarify, to describe and to analyse how the eating recommendations of the early childhood education come true especially for food education about private childminder. I also tried to clarify how the food education is put into practice in the private childminder's workday and what kind of factors promote or prevent of the food education. The earlier studies have shown that the eating during of the early childhood education has significance and that the children in the daycare have more versatile eating habits than the children that have been taken care at home. The research questions were formulated partly based on the eating recommendation of the early childhood education which gives the general guidelines for the offering and food education of the food which promotes health. The recommendation has been meant for all the operators of the early childhood education. Methods. The study was carried out as a qualitative study. The material of the study was collected as theme interviews. Seven private childminders participated in the interview. All the interviewees worked at home and they had 1–5-year-old children in the full-time daycare. The recorded material was transcribed for the analysis. Qualitative research material was analyzed by thematising. In addition to the qualitative material, I was able to use the menus from them on which it was in use. Results and conclusions. Eating recommendations of the early childhood education were followed well on private childminders. The eating situations were peaceful and unhurried, and children were encouraged to taste all the available foods without forcing. A private childminders' appreciation and respect for food appeared in many ways. Many emphasized that they wanted to prepare the meals themselves from the scratch and some preferred to use as much as possible the crops of their own yard or those of local producers. The factors which promoted the food education were working at home and small group size in which case it was possible to let the children participate in the food preparation. The private childminders were hoping to get more peer support in their work and since the work was seen as very responsible, they wished for additional education from the municipalities about food education and eating situations. All the private childminders experienced that they were food educators, but most of them had challenges to recognize the definition of the food education and the identification. Based on the results the private childminders' work could be developed by providing opportunities to participate in the education and by increasing the consciousness of the food education.