Criterion HS116
Children must be seated and supervised by an adult while eating. The adult does not need to be seated but must:
have clear visibility of children eating
not be engaged in any other tasks that can take away their focus
be close enough to the children to intervene, if necessary and
know how to respond if a child is choking or has an adverse reaction.
Where food is provided by the service, foods that pose a high choking risk are not to be served unless prepared in accordance with best practice as set out in Ministry of Health's guide: Reducing food-related choking for babies and young children at early learning services.
Where food is provided by parents, the service promotes best practices as set out in the Ministry of Health's guide and must inform all parents at the time of enrolment how to access a copy of the guide: Reducing food-related choking for babies and young children at early learning services.
Guidance
How to show you are complying
You need to make sure at least one adult supervises children whenever they eat. The adults must make sure the children are seated and oversee them closely. The adult must not be engaged in completing other tasks. They should be physically close enough to the child(ren) to closely observe their eating and intervene immediately, if necessary.
Adults supervising children must know how to respond to a child who is choking or has an adverse reaction. These might include having a first aid qualification (unit standard 6401 and 6402 or equivalent), know how to administer first aid, or know of other adults in the service who can. Adults who are supervising should also know your service’s procedures for responding to choking and adverse reactions.
An adverse reaction is wider than choking incidents
To supervise effectively, adults must watch for choking and watch for signs of an allergic reaction and food intolerance, like swelling, rashes, vomiting, or trouble breathing.
Children must be seated when eating
The supervising adult should make sure that each child supports their weight with their buttocks (not their feet) and keep their back upright. Whenever possible, the adult should seat children in a chair with their food placed directly in front of them. This setup helps prevent twisting to the side, which can cause them to lose control of the food in their mouth and increases the risk of choking.
Serving appropriate food
If you provide food to children, you should select appropriate food for individual children to minimise the risk of choking. You should not prepare food for children to eat that pose a high choking risk, unless it has been prepared in line with the Ministry of Health’s best practices guide.
This guidance outlines foods that should be excluded from services and how to alter other high-risk foods for different age groups (1 to 3 years, and 4 to 6 years).
If parents provide food for children at your service, you must promote the Ministry of Health’s best practices guide and give them information on how to access this guidance at enrolment. This could be providing a copy or a link.
When assessing whether you comply with HS116
Questions we are likely to ask
How do you inform parents how to access the Ministry of Health’s guide for reducing food-related choking?
How do you make sure there is always an adult supervising child while they eat?
How do you prepare food for children to mitigate risks of choking?
How do you make sure adults that are supervising know how to respond to choking and allergic reactions?
How do adults know children who have known food allergies and the safety plan to follow?
We are likely to look at, measure or count
We will look at how mealtimes are supervised and, if food is provided by your service, that the food being served has been prepared in accordance with Ministry of Health guidelines.
We are likely to request
There is no documentation required for this criterion. However, if you inform parents about how to access the Ministry of Health’s best practice guide on enrolment, we may ask to see a copy of the enrolment pack or enrolment form as evidence.
The tools below are here to support you, but you do not have to use them. You can use other tools or methods that work better for your service.
Appropriate foods for 6-12 months
Eating for healthy babies and toddlers | Ngā kai tōtika mō te hunga kōhu – HealthEd
Food-related choking
By carefully supervising children while they eat, adults are well placed to support children’s health and safety.
Doing more than the minimum can shape better outcomes for children.
Here are some ideas or examples you might like to consider:
Ideally, supervising adults would be within arms-reach of children learning to feed themselves.
It’s a good idea to discuss with a parent the foods children can manage safely rather than relying on age alone as the indicator.
Consider using this resource as part of best practice supporting children eating.
Eating for healthy babies and toddlers | Ngā kai tōtika mō te hunga kōhu – HealthEd
Be aware of foods that are more likely to cause choking:
small hard foods that are difficult for children to bite or chew (for example, nuts, large seeds, popcorn husks, raw carrot, apple, celery)
small round foods that can get stuck in children’s throats (for example, grapes, berries, raisins, sultanas, peas, watermelon seeds, lollies)
foods with skins or leaves that are difficult to chew (for example, sausages, chicken, lettuce, nectarines)
compressible food which can squash into the shape of a child’s throat and get stuck there (for example, hot dogs, sausages, pieces of cooked meat, popcorn)
thick pastes that can get stuck in children’s throats (for example, chocolate spreads, peanut butter)
fibrous or stringy foods that are difficult for children to chew (for example, celery, rhubarb, raw pineapple).
To reduce the risk of choking on these foods you can:
alter the food texture – grate, cook, finely chop or mash the food
remove the high-risk parts of the food – peel off the skin or remove the strong fibres.
It would be good to collect evidence of capability of responding, which could include:
first aid certificate
completed induction checklists or documents
documented PLD
incident reports showing previous experience of capability in responding.
Checklist: Supporting Children’s Safety During Meals
HS116 Centre-based Supervision while eating checklist [DOCX, 60KB]