Kita-food not a balanced diet

Bertelsmann Foundation criticizes deficits in daycare - carriers fight back

06/06/2014

After the Bertelsmann Stiftung found out in a study on daycare that children with childcare often do not receive a balanced diet, numerous institutions and local authorities have reported their outrage. The food offered is excellent and balanced, it is heard from many sides. However, the study of the Bertelsmann Foundation does not claim that all kindergartens offer inadequate food. One third of the day care centers met the recognized standards - but two thirds did not meet them.

According to the Bertelsmann Foundation, more and more children are having lunch in the day care center, which is why quality standards are urgently needed to ensure a healthy, balanced diet. „We need nationwide binding quality standards for daycare. For this it requires a federal Kitagesetzes“, This is the demand of Jörg Dräger, member of the Bertelsmann Stiftung Executive Board. Dräger added that one „good nutrition important for the development and education of children“ and here the kindergarten plays a central role. The outrage on the part of the institutions is understandable - especially if they are among those who actually offer good food - but in the interests of children, the results of the Bertelsmann Foundation should be taken as a reason to critically review the food.

Food in about 1,100 day care centers evaluated
In the current study, according to the Bertelsmann Stiftung „first representative quality and cost of lunch in Kitas examined.“ For the first time, the status quo of kindergarten catering in Germany will be presented extensively. Almost 1,100 day care centers from all federal states asked the Bertelsmann Stiftung about their catering offer. In addition, model cost estimates have been used to determine the cost of a lunch, including the „Quality standard for meals in daycare facilities for children“ the German Nutrition Society e. V. (DGE) corresponds. All in all, the lunch catering in most German day-care centers did not perform well, as measured by the scientifically-based quality standard of the DGE, reports the foundation.

Too much meat, too little fruit salad, raw food and fish
According to the results of the Bertelsmann Foundation, only 12 percent of day-care centers gave the children enough fruit and only 19 percent offered enough salad or raw food. Furthermore, fish was too rare on the menu. While fruit, salad, raw food and fish were often in short supply in the day-care centers, the current study has shown that meat is offered too often in three-quarters of day nurseries. Here too, the caterers are often still too little focused on child-friendly catering, reports the Bertelsmann Foundation. In two out of three kindergartens in Germany, lunch will be delivered, but „only one in ten caterers who provide a day care center offer lunches specially designed to meet the needs of children.“ Moreover, the day-care centers themselves are often not adequately equipped for their meals. Often the Kita kitchen resembles that of a private household and „Not even every third daycare has a dining room“, This is the message from the Bertelsmann Foundation. Only a third of day-care centers employ skilled household staff.

Quality standards for daycare required
The Bertelsmann Foundation sees the absence of nationwide quality standards and the hitherto non-binding funding of kindergarten catering as a significant cause of the deficits identified. There „the financing of domestic personnel, kitchen and room equipment as well as the operating costs and food costs in most federal states are not binding and uniform“ is different, the income-independent food allowance of the parents for lunch considerably. The range is from 75 cents to six euros per meal. On average, the parents would also pay the day care centers 2.40 euros for a lunch of their children. So the quality of the children's lunch depends on the decisions and subsidies of the respective institution or municipality, because „a healthy and balanced lunch catering that meets the DGE standard, at least four euros“ costs, reports the Bertelsmann Foundation.

Lack of binding financing of daycare
If every child who eats in his day care center should receive a healthy lunch every day, according to the Bertelsmann Stiftung „1.8 billion euros are spent nationwide annually“, which would be 750 million euros more than parents spend today. In addition to the nationwide quality standards, therefore, binding financing models for kindergarten catering are required, also because „in the meantime, more than 1.8 million children throughout Germany stay in their day-care centers over lunch and are being fed there.“ Jörg Dräger emphasized that „The federal government, the federal states, local authorities, providers and parents have to make a binding decision on the financing of a balanced lunch so that every child in the day-care center can be well-fed.“

Chance to break the trend towards unhealthy diet
According to a report by the Bertelsmann Stiftung, daycare also plays a special role against the background that „Current nationwide cross-sectional studies point to a fundamentally questionable eating behavior of children and adolescents and the consequences of poor nutrition.“ For example, the children's and youth survey of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has shown that already nine percent of three- to six-year-olds are overweight and just under three percent are even obese. „The majority of Kita children now eat in their day care center. Politicians should seize this opportunity and ensure healthy growing up for all children“, Dräger continues. With the establishment of quality standards, it would also be apparent to Kitas, who are currently outraged and praised for their excellent food, whether they actually ensure healthy and balanced meals for the children. (Fp)