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What's a Meal?
in
A
Resource Manual for Providing Nutritious Meals
in the Child and Adult Care Food Program
United States Department of Agriculture
Food and Nutrition Service
Midwest Region
Child Nutrition Programs
77 West Jackson Boulevard, 20th Floor
Chicago/Illinois 60604
February 1994
TheChild Nutrition Programsareopentoall eligiblechildren andadults regardlessof
race, color, national origin, sex, age orhandicap. Any person who believes he orshe
has been discriminated againstin any USDA-relatedactivityshouldwrite immediately
tothe SecretaryofAgriculture, Washington, DC20250.
The United States Department ofAgriculture Food and Nutrition Ser^dce convened
a task force to prepare this manual which is intended to assist Child and Adult Care
Food Program (CACFP) personnel in providing quality, nutritious meals which
comply with CACFP meal pattern requirements. The task force was made up oflocal
family day care pro\aders, child care center directors, sponsoring organization
directors and nutritionists, State Department ofEducation technical staffand
USDA Food and Nutrition Seivice speciahsts.
This manual contains sections on nutrition, recipe modification, food labeling,
feeding infants, food handling and sanitation, ethnic foods, recipe evaluation and
crediting foods.
USDA commends all task force members for contributing their time and energy
beyond regular duties to make this a successful guide. For additional information on
or clarification ofthe topics covered in this manual, please contact your sponsoring
organization or State agency.
We
are interested in your response to this publication. After reading it, will you
please take a few minutes to complete the questionnaire on the last page?
MONROE WOODS THERESA BOWMAN
E.
Regional Administrator Midwest Regional Director
Midwest Region Child Nutrition Programs
Development Team
ElizabethBell WandaL.Layne, LD, RD
Program Specialist Nutritionist
USDA- Food and Nutrition Service ChildDevelopmentCouncil ofFranklin County
ChildNutrition Programs Columbus, Ohio
Chicago, Illinois
ArleneLindley
MarielCaldwell, MS, MPH Family Day Care Provider
Regional Nutrition Coordinator sponsored by Eastminster Community Concerns
DHHS
- Public Health Service EastLansing, Michigan
Maternal and Child Health Bureau
Chicago, Illinois SherryLundquist, MS, RD
Dietician, Food and Nutrition Service
MaureenConley, RD Minnesota DepartmentofEducation
Illinois State Board ofEducation St. Paul, Minnesota
Department ofChildNutrition
Springfield, Illinois Diane Sawyer, LPN
Family Day Care Provider
RobertW. Dean, PhD sponsored by Illinois Child Care Bureau
RegionalNutrition Coordinator Lombard, Illinois
USDA- Food and Nutrition Service
Chicago, Illinois Gale Sjolund, Home Economist
Manager, 4 C Food Program
Sue Duley, CHE Milwaukee,Wisconsin
NutritionDirector
Minnesota Licensed Family Suman Sood, MS, RD
Child CareAssociation Nutrition Services Coordinator
Roseville, Minnesota Community and Economic Development
Association ofCook County - Head Start
MaryJane Getlinger, MS Chicago, Illinois
Management and Program Analyst
USDA- Food and Nutrition Service RosemarySuardini, MS
Child Nutrition Programs Consultant, SchoolManagementServices
Chicago, Illinois Michigan DepartmentofEducation
Lansing, Michigan
CathyHarper, Nutritionist
Executive Director KathyVoorhies
Nutritionfor Children Family Day Care Home Specialist
Champaign, Illinois School Food Service Division
Ohio State DepartmentofEducation
SuzetteHartmann, MS Columbus, Ohio
Nutrition Education Consultant
Indiana Department ofEducation GloriaWilliams, MS
Indianapolis, Indiana Food Service Consultant
Wisconsin Department ofPublic Instruction
MarilynJeter, RD Madison,Wisconsin
Executive Director
Markent, Inc. HelenWilliams
Carmel, Indiana Program Director, Child Care Food Program
DetroitUrban League
Detroit, Michigan
Project Leader: Elizabeth Bell
Design and Layout: Elizabeth Bell and Mary Jane Getlinger
Table of Contents
Grasping Nutrition Concepts 1
¥ollo\ying the Dietary Guidelines 1
Key Elements ofthe Dietary Guidelines 1
Using the Food Guide F\Tainid 2
Understanding Nutrition 4
Xutritive Value ofFoods 7
Foods ofLesser Nutritional Value 9
Sample Menus 10
Vegetarian Diets 12
Dental Health 12
Physical Acti\it>' 13
Drug and Nutrient Interaction 13
Children with Special Nutrition Needs 13
Formation ofEating Habits 17
Questions and Answers 19
Modifying Recipes and Menus to Meet
the Dietary Guidelines forAmericans 21
Suggestions for Reducing Fat 22
Suggestions for Reducing Sodium 23
Suggestions for Reducing Sugar 25
Suggestions for Increasing Fiber 25
Menu Modification 26
Understanding Food Labels: What's in a Food? 27
Overview ofFood Labeling 27
The Nutrition Labehng and Education Act 27
Key Changes in Food Labeling Under the NT^EA 28
The Nutrition Panel 30
Some Things to Know About Breads and Bread Products 32
Some Things to Know About Fruit Juices 33
Some Things to Know About Processed Meats 34
Reading Ingredient Lists 35
Commercially Processed Combination Foods 37
Feeding Infants 39
The Infant Meal Pattern 39
Breast Milk 41
Iron-Fortified Infant Formula 41
Milk 42
Sanitation, Food Preparation and Safe Food Handling 42
Bottle Feeding 42
Baby Foods 44
Foods That Cannot Be Credited 45
Foods to Avoid or Limit 45
Baby Bottle Tooth Decay 46
Handling Foods for Safety 47
Food Handling 47
Helpful Hints for Food Safety 47
Ways to Recognize Food Spoilage 49
Serving Ethnic Foods 51
Considering Ethnic Differences 51
African Americans 52
Hispanic Americans 52
Asian and Pacific Islanders 53
Native Americans 56
Jewish Americans 57
Holidays 58
Evaluating Recipes and Purchased Food Products 59
Tips for Evaluating a Recipe 59
Abbreviations 59
Common Measures and Equivalents 59
Weights ofOne Cup ofCommonly Used Ingredients 60
Crediting Homemade Bread Products 63
Crediting Commercial Bread Products 66
Meeting the Meal Pattern Requirements 66
Portion Sizes 66
Combination Dishes 66
Recipe Analysis 67
Recipe Analysis Worksheet 68
Common Food Yields 69
Crediting Foods 71
Child and Adult Care Food Program Meal Pattern for Children .... 72
Bread and Bread Alternates 73
Fruits and Vegetables 85
Meat and Meat Alternates 95
Milk 105
Glossary Ill
Grasping Nutrition Concepts
Grasping Nutrition Concepts
Following the Dietary carbohydrates. This can help lower fat
intake.
Guidelines
Use sugars only in moderation. A
The Dietary Guidelines forAmericans, diet high in sugar can have too many
developed by the United States calories and too few nutrients for most
Department ofAgriculture 'USDA"* and people.
the Department ofHealth and Human
Services iDHHS k pro\'ide general diet Use salt and sodium only in
and hfestyle recommendations for moderation to help reduce risk of
healthy Americans ages two years and high blood pressure.
over. Try to follow these gnidehnes when
planning menus for the children in your Ifyou drink alcoholic beverages,
care and when making food choices for do so in moderation.
yourself.
• Eat a variety- offoods to get the
energy.', protein, \-itamins, minerals Key Elements of the
and fiber you need for good health. Dietary Guideiines
• Maintain a healthy weight to
Healthy diets include a variety of
reduce chances ofha\'ing high blood
nutritious foods from all food groups. It
pressure, heart disease, a stroke,
certain cancers or the most common is important to remember that no single
food can supply all necessary' nutrients.
form ofdiabetes.
All foods can be part ofa healthy diet.
• Choose a diet low in fat, saturated
fat and cholesterol to reduce risk of When planning meals, moderation is
always the key. Eating too much or too
heart attack and certain tj^pes of
A Httle ofany one food or nutrient can be
cancer. diet low in fat can also help
unhealthy.
you maintain a healthy weight.
Good health depends on a number of
• Choose a diet with plenty of
vegetables, fruits and grain factors including: diet, heredit\',
hfestA'le, health care and the
products to pro\'ide needed vitamins,
environment.
minerals, fiber and complex
Whafs in aMeal? 1
Grasping Nutrition Concepts
Using the Food Each ofthe food groups ofthe Food Guide
Pyramid provides important nutrients.
Guide Pyramid
Because one food group cannot provide
all necessary nutrients, it is important to
The Food Guide Pyramid, shown on choose foods daily from all food groups.
the next page, is a graphic illustration of
the Dietary Guidelines. The Food Guide
Pyramid helps you choose what and how
much to eat from each food group to get
necessary nutrients and not too many
calories, too much fat, saturated fat,
cholesterol, sugar, sodium or alcohol.
The food groups include: (1) the bread,
cereal, rice and pasta group, (2) the
vegetable group, (3) the fruit group, (4)
the milk, yogurt and cheese group and (5)
the meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs
and nuts group.
The bottom ofthe pyramid emphasizes
the consumption ofbread, cereals, rice,
pasta, vegetables and fruits. The Dietary
Guidelines recommend moderate intakes Food Group Good SourceOf
offoods that contain fat, saturated fat
and cholesterol. Finally, the smallest Bread, Cereal, Riceand complexcarbohydrate,fiber,
PastaGroup riboflavin, niacin,thiamin,
triangle at the top shows that fats, oils
folate, iron
and sweets should be used sparingly
because they provide calories and little VegetableGroup complexcarbohydrate, fiber,
else nutritionally. vitaminA, vitamin C, folate,
potassium, iron, magnesium
The Food Guide Pyramid recommends
FruitGroup carbohydrate,fiber,
the number ofservings offoods that potassium, folate, vitaminA,
should be eaten daily. Preschool children vitaminC
need the same variety offoods as older
family members do, but may need fewer Meat, Poultry, Fish, Dry protein, iron, phosphorus,
Beans, Eggsand NutsGroup potassium (meat, poultry, fish
calories. For fewer calories, they can eat and eggsmaycontain
smaller servings. No specific number of saturatedfatandcholesterol)
servings is recommended for fats, oils and
sweets at the top ofthe pyramid. Milk, YogurtandCheese protein,calcium, phosphorus,
Group vitaminA, vitamin B-12 (most
containfat, saturatedfatand
Also, throughout the Pyramid, tiny
cholesterol)
circles symbolize naturally occurring and
added fat. Tiny triangles s5nnbolize sugar
added to foods in processing or at the
table. These symbols show that many
foods contribute fat and sugar to the diet.
2 What's in a Meal?
