Go to County Childcare Committees Links
Go to Childhood Nutrition and Health Links
Go to Voluntary Childcare Organisations Links
Go to International Organisation Links
Government Links
Department of Children and Youth Affairs
Department of Health and Children
Department of Justice and Equality
Department of Social Protection
Health Information and Quality Authority Ireland
National Council for Curriculum Assessment
Ombudsman for Children’s Office, Ireland
Health Links
Association of Occupational Therapists Ireland
Dental Health Foundation Ireland
The Irish Association of Speech and language Therapists Ireland
The Psychological Society of Ireland
Links to Useful Resources on Childhood Nutrition and Health
HSE and Safefood campaign aimed at parents and young children to encourage healthy eating and physical activity: (including downloadable leaflets and posters).
Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute (INDI)
The professional association for dietitians in Ireland providing dietary information with free to download factsheets including fact sheets on childhood nutrition.
British Dietetic Association (BDA)
The professional association for dietitians in the UK providing dietary information with free to download factsheets covering basic nutrition information.
Safefood
North/South body committed to promoting healthy eating and food safety. Provides free to download resources on a range of childhood nutrition topics, including healthy lunchbox ideas and a guide to reading food labels.
Little Bites has been specifically developed as a one-stop-shop for food safety, food allergen and healthy eating advice for all early childcare providers.
Health Promotion Department
General healthy eating leaflets, including new food pyramid and healthy eating advice for children.
Department of Health
A useful website with lots of information on various health topics including publications on child health such as the Irish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) Study 2010
Incredible Edibles
Agri Aware and other sponsors encouraging primary and post-primary schools to learn about agriculture and food (including Dig in! resource pack with 32 lesson plans).
British Nutrition Foundation
Food a fact of life provides a wealth of free resources including podcasts about healthy eating, cooking, food and farming for children and young people aged 3 to 16 years. Includes lesson plans, worksheets and interactive games.
Nourish Interactive
Nourish Interactive is an American website and provides free resources for fun nutrition games for kids, interactive nutrition tools and tips for parents and health educators to use to promote healthy living for the whole family.
Created by nutrition and health care professionals, Nourish Interactive's nutrition education gives children and families the knowledge and skills they need to make healthy choices.
Food Dudes
Food Dudes is a programme developed by the University of Wales, Bangor, to encourage children to eat more fruit and vegetables both in school and at home. It is based on positive role models (the Food Dudes characters), repeated tasting and rewards. In large-scale studies in schools in England and Wales and pilot studies in schools in Ireland, the programme has been shown to be effective and results long lasting across the primary age range, regardless of gender, school size, geographic and socio-economic factors.
Irish Heart Foundation (IHF)
The IHF have developed a resource for primary school teachers called 'Bizzy Breaks' containing a series levels of short (5-10 minutes) physical activity breaks for the classroom. Information on other school programmes including Action for Life Resources, LIDL Fit Factor and Active School Flag.
Healthy food for All
Healthy Food for All is an all-island initiative seeking to combat food poverty by promoting access, availability and affordability of healthy food for low-income groups.They have developed the Good Practice Guide for Breakfast Clubs which provides information on setting up and running a breakfast club. The guide aims to support schools and community groups to create a positive social environment where children can prepare for the school day.
Voluntary Childcare Organisation Links
Association of Childhood Professionals (ACP)
Irish Protection Surveillance Centre
The Economic and Social Research Institute
International Links
Early Years The Organisation for Young Children
European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA)
National Institute for Early Education Research
The National Association for the Education of Young Children