Food in Care

Food in Care an innovative programme led by Food Active to assist children in care and their carers to lead healthier lives. The project aims to raise the importance of food, nutrition and associated behaviours for children in care, through a range of resources and training.

Resources and Training:

Background

Research has shown that there is a significant gap in targeted information and support for carers around promoting healthy diet and nutrition for children in care, as well as their understanding food behaviour issues.

Food in Care seeks to fill this gap, developed as part of a three year British Heart Foundation-funded project, delivered in partnership with Liverpool City Council and other local partners.

Food in Care has inspired me to food as a topic is a way we can connect with ourselves, our teams and most importantly, our children.

Social worker

Why Food in Care?

Children in care can often display abnormal food related behaviours. They may enter into service with some food behaviour issues caused by their early experiences of abuse and/or neglect. They might also develop some food issues during care placements due to the stress associated with being in an unknown environment where they might feel insecure and excluded. Carers face many challenges related to those issues and they require skills in managing food associated behaviours.

How effective is Food in Care?

We carried out an evaluation of the Food in Care training programme in 2017, which reported an increased understanding of food, nutrition and health, as well as more confidence in dealing with food behaviour issues and challenges.

READ THE FULL EVALUATION REPORT HERE