More than a fifth of children aged five in the UK are overweight or obese and nearly a quarter of five-year-olds in England are affected by tooth decay.
In a bid to reduce these high rates, many nurseries now have a qualified member of staff called a Physical Activity and Nutrition Coordinator (PANCo), who champions best practice and leads on health and wellbeing. There are currently over 3,000 PANCos in the UK.
What is a PANCo?
A PANCo is a Physical Activity and Nutrition Coordinator and their job is to help prevent obesity in children in their early years.
The PANCo’s role is to come up with strategies to encourage physical activity and good nutrition.
They will help children understand the importance of physical activity and how to make healthy choices about their food.
They also need to support families and motivate other staff to also become leaders of change and liaise with health visitors and dietitians.
The hope is that a PANCo will instil behaviour in children and their families that will sustain them throughout their lives.
What qualifications do you need to be a PANCo?
A qualified PANCo will have a nationally accredited and recognised Level 4 Certificate.
Promoting health and well-being through physical activity and nutrition co-ordination (PANCo), is part of the Certificate for the Early Years Advanced Practitioner 601/8424/3.
In order to start training for the role they must be over 18 and have at least a Level 3 Early Years qualification.
NDNA’s PANCo training
The NDNA (National Day Nurseries Association) runs a PANCo qualification which is recognised as an NCFE CACHE accredited Level 4 award.
The NDNA PANCo course is flexible and allows practitioners to work at their own speed with additional support from a tutor. The course can be started at any time but must be completed within three months. It is based on 10 weeks of study and there is an expectation that the practitioner will study for three hours per week and do an extra 10 hours of workplace activities within this timeframe.
The PANCo programme provides settings with a framework and a pathway to follow, and it complements curriculum guidelines, policies and current practice.
Purnima Tanuku, NDNA’s chief executive, said: “We know that parents and the home environment are key to encouraging healthy lifestyles, but with over 1.5 million children attending early years settings every day, early years practitioners are uniquely placed to play a vital role in the future health and well-being of our children. This is a crucial stage of their development where we can instil healthy habits that will last a lifetime.
“The first five years of a child’s life really count. This is when 90% of brain development occurs and children need to be nourished mentally and physically to allow them to reach their full potential and have the best possible start in life.
“The role of the NDNA PANCo is to act as the trained and informed link who is responsible for promoting the value and benefits of physical activity and healthy eating within the setting.”
The NDNA would like to see a PANCo in every early years setting in the UK.
Benefits of the PANCo programme
Linda Baston-Pitt who founded PANCo said: “I strongly believe that early years providers are in a unique position to make a real difference to the future health and well-being of our children and are key in helping to mitigate the effects of the obesity crisis.
“However, the missing link in many settings has been a person who is trained in, and responsible for promoting health across the setting. This was one of the key reasons I created the Physical Activity and Nutrition Coordinator role (PANCo) which is now at the forefront of that endeavour.
“We are already starting to see that the role of the PANCo is having a positive impact not only on the well-being of children and families but on the whole staff team, as well as opening up new career opportunities for early years professionals.”
Impact of PANCo
Gaynor Rooney of Dandelion Days Nursery is a qualified PANCo.
She found thePANCo programme has been easy to implement and practice and said it is “now second nature to staff”.
“Since completing the course, we promote the importance of healthy lunch box ideas and suggest sugary swaps and I’m more aware of sharing healthy recipes with families.
“The children now get involved in cooking and planting vegetables, using tubs and hanging baskets as we don’t have a lot of space, and they take part in energetic activities throughout the day to support and promote their physical development,” she added.
For more information and how to sign up to the NDNA PANCo course go to https://ndna.org.uk/panco/
