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Guidance

Early Years Foundation Stage nutrition

Helping early years providers offer healthy, balanced and nutritious food.

Updates to this page

From:
Department for Education
Published:
17 April 2025
Last updated:
30 May 2025
Show all updates

  1. Updated the guidance. From September 2025, providers must take this guidance into account and follow it unless there is good reason not to.

  2. First published.

Applies to England

Documents

Early Years Foundation Stage nutrition guidance

PDF, 552 KB, 39 pages

Details

This guidance is for early years providers in England who are caring for early years children aged 0 to 5 years.

It supports providers in meeting the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework requirement ‘Where children are provided with meals, snacks and drinks, these must be healthy, balanced and nutritious’.

From September 2025, the EYFS statutory framework will include a safeguarding and welfare requirement that asks providers to follow this nutrition guidance unless there is good reason not to.

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