Nutrition for Young Children Level 3 will help you understand the principles of a balanced diet for children from pre-birth through to adolescence.

Students will learn to:

• Gain an insight into specific dietary needs for pregnant women, infants and breast feeding mothers
• Identify the dietary needs of children
• Recognise the factors that can influence diet and the consequences of poor nutrition on health and wellbeing
• Explore nutritional challenges for children with chronic conditions
• Investigate the implications of infant and child obesity for health and wellbeing into adulthood

Support is provided for up to 12 months but it is entirely up to you how quickly you work through the course. The estimated study time is 100 hours so if you average around 5 hours a week study you would complete in 5-6 months.

Students can choose to take the online version of the course where the course is emailed to you or request a paper copy where the course is delivered hard copy in folders. This is yours to keep so you can write on it, make notes etc.

Support is provided throughout the course via a tutor who can be emailed at any time should you come across anything you are unsure of. There is also a support team by telephone.

Nutrition for Young Children Level 3 is split into six units. At the end of each unit you will complete an assignment which you will email to your tutor. An assignment is a set of questions based upon the unit you have just studied. Your tutor will mark your work and give you feedback. If there are any areas for improvements or anything that you have misunderstood you will always have the opportunity to re-submit.

The good news is there are no exams! Once you have completed all the assignments you complete the course.

Unit 1: Principles of a Balanced Diet

• Nutrients that comprise our food
• How our bodies use these nutrients
• The effect of nutrients
• The effects of nutritional imbalance
• Current guidelines for healthy eating

Unit 2: Prenatal and Infant Feeding

• Nutrition in preconception and pregnancy
• Milk feeding
• Weaning
• Common feeding problems in infants
• Nutrition for preterm infants

Unit 3: Nutrition for Pre-School Children

• Main dietary principles for good nutrition in the 1-4 year age group
• Common challenges of providing a balanced diet for children aged between 1-4 years
• Challenges of providing a balanced diet within childcare settings
• Core components of nutritionally beneficial meal plans for children of this age group

Unit 4: Nutrition for School Aged Children (5-18)

• Challenges of providing good nutrition for school aged children
• Range of factors which influence nutritional choice within this age group
• Potential risk factors within this age group associated with nutritional imbalance
• Strategies and schemes that can be used to address some of the nutritional challenges within this age group

Unit 5: Nutrition for Food Hypersensitivity in Children

• Food allergies and intolerance
• Medical conditions that require dietary modification
• Advising parents

Unit 6: Childhood Obesity

• Main nutritional problems which contribute to the rising incidence of childhood obesity
• Negative impacts of childhood obesity in terms of health and wellbeing
• Risk factors for diabetes associated with childhood obesity
• How childhood obesity can impact future health and wellbeing into adulthood

At the end of this course successful learners will receive a Certificate of Achievement from ABC Awards and Certa Awards and a Learner Unit Summary (which lists the components the learner has completed as part of the course).

The course has been endorsed under the ABC Awards and Certa Awards Quality Licence Scheme. This means that Open Study College has undergone an external quality check to ensure that the organisation and the courses it offers, meet defined quality criteria. The completion of this course alone does not lead to a regulated qualification* but may be used as evidence of knowledge and skills gained. The Learner Unit Summary may be used as evidence towards Recognition of Prior Learning if you wish to progress your studies in this subject. To this end the learning outcomes of the course have been benchmarked at Level 3 against level descriptors published by Ofqual, to indicate the depth of study and level of demand/complexity involved in successful completion by the learner.

The course itself has been designed by Open Study College to meet specific learners’ and/or employers’ requirements which cannot be satisfied through current regulated qualifications. ABC Awards & Certa Awards endorsement involves robust and rigorous quality audits by external auditors to ensure quality is continually met. A review of courses is carried out as part of the endorsement process.

ABC Awards and Certa Awards have long-established reputations for providing high quality vocational qualifications across a wide range of industries. ABC Awards and Certa Awards combine over 180 years of expertise combined with a responsive, flexible and innovative approach to the needs of our customers.

Renowned for excellent customer service, and quality standards, ABC Awards and Certa Awards also offer regulated qualifications for all ages and abilities post-14; all are developed with the support of relevant stakeholders to ensure that they meet the needs and standards of employers across the UK.