Educators\u27 attitude towards children\u27s diet in the kindergarten

Dietna prehrana v vzgojno-izobraževalnih zavodih je sestavni del organiziranega sistema šolske prehrane, ki zahteva dodatna strokovna znanja, poleg tega pa je s strani vzgojno-izobraževalnih zavodov treba posvečati več pozornosti prehrani, da ne prihaja do morebitnih zdravstvenih težav pri otrocih z alergijo na hrano ali drugimi obolenji, ki zahtevajo posebno prehransko obravnavo. Namen diplomskega dela je bil ugotoviti, kakšen je odnos vzgojiteljev do dietne prehrane otrok v vrtcu. Na podlagi tega sem z raziskavo želela ugotoviti, koliko otrok ima v izbranem vrtcu zagotovljeno dietno prehrano, kakšen je protokol zagotavljanja dietne prehrane v vrtcu, na kakšen način poteka medsebojno obveščanje strokovnih delavcev o otrokovi dietni prehrani in ali vzgojitelji poznajo osnovne ukrepe za ravnanje ob pojavu alergijske reakcije pri otroku. V raziskavi je sodelovalo 45 strokovnih delavcev, ki so zaposleni v vrtcu, vključenem v raziskavo. Na podlagi analize rezultatov je bilo ugotovljeno, da je v izbranem vrtcu od skupnega števila vseh otrok 4,6 % otrok, ki imajo zagotovljeno dietno prehrano. Strokovni delavci vrtca se dobro zavedajo pomena zagotavljanja dietne prehrane v vrtcu. Obenem pa v povezavi z zagotavljanjem dietne prehrane v vrtcu izpostavljajo težave, povezane s komunikacijo s kuharskim osebjem, ki na oddelek posreduje hrano, ki ne ustreza zahtevam diet. To pa od strokovnih delavcev zahteva, da dosledno pregledujejo ustreznost hrane, ki je namenjena posameznemu otroku. Prihaja tudi do težav v primeru združevanja skupin otrok, ker strokovni delavci niso ustrezno seznanjeni z dietami posameznih otrok. Raziskava je pokazala, da je za zagotavljanje ustrezne prehrane pomembna komunikacija med strokovnim osebjem vrtca in starši. Strokovni delavci poznajo osnovne ukrepe ob pojavu otrokove preobčutljivosti na hrano, slabo pa poznajo ukrepe ob pojavu anafilaktičnega šoka, ki ga lahko povzroči alergija na hrano. Glede na rezultate raziskave predlagam, da se v vrtcih vzpostavi ustrezen način komuniciranja med strokovnimi delavci, osebjem v kuhinji in starši. Pomembno je, da se strokovnim delavcem zagotavlja permanentno izobraževanje in ozaveščanje o pomenu zagotavljanja dietne prehrane, kar pomembno vpliva na zagotavljanje kakovostne in varne prehranske oskrbe otrok, ki potrebujejo dietno prehrano.Diet plan for persons with allergies and hypersensitivity in educational centres is an integral part of the regular school meals system that requires additional knowledge. Educational centres need to pay more attention to nutrition to prevent potential harm associated with healthcare of children, suffering from food allergy or other forms of diseases that demand special nutrition treatment. The purpose of this bachelor’s thesis is to find out more about the attitude of nursery school teachers to special dietary needs of the children in Slovenian kindergartens. I tried to determine how many children in the chosen kindergarten have a guaranteed special diet, what is the protocol of providing this special diet, how the employees pass on the information about a child’s diet and whether nursery school teachers are familiar with basic precautions in case of allergic reaction. 45 professional workers from the chosen kindergarten took part in this research. Based on the analysis of the results it was determined that 4,6% of children at the chosen kindergarten have an ensured special diet. Professionals at the kindergarten are aware of the significance of ensuring special diets to children at the kindergarten, but also highlight communication difficulties with kitchen workers that forwards the food, which does not meet requirements, to the department. For this reason, consistency at meals review is demanded from nursery school teachers. Another difficulty that is to expose is a problem in case of merging groups of children, because nursery school teachers are not adequately informed about the diet of each child. The research has shown that communication between kindergarten personnel and children’s parents is of vital importance for ensuring adequate diets. Professional workers at the kindergarten are familiar with the basic precautions in case of child’s hypersensitivity but are less acquainted with precautions to be taken in case of anaphylactic shock that may be caused by food allergy. According to the results of the research, I suggest establishing a system for efficient communication between nursery school teachers, kitchen workers and children’s parents. Ensuring constant education and raising awareness about the significance of ensuring special diets has an important influence on enabling quality and safe nutrition for children that need special diets