Mapping Global Policies and Practices for Sustainable and Healthy Dietary Practices in Early Childhood Education and Care Settings: A Systematic Scoping Review

This project outlines a systematic scoping review that aims to map policies, guidelines, and practices globally related to sustainable and healthy dietary practices within Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) settings. ECEC environments play a critical role in shaping children’s early dietary behaviours and food-related practices, with increasing global attention to integrating nutrition, environmental sustainability, and social equity within early childhood food environments. However, existing policies and practices remain fragmented and vary widely across contexts, with limited synthesis of how health and sustainability dimensions are jointly addressed. Using established scoping review methodology and reported in accordance with the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR), this review will systematically identify and synthesise peer-reviewed and grey literature published. Searches will be conducted across major academic databases and relevant policy and institutional sources. Eligible literature will include empirical studies, policy documents, guidelines, and reports focused on sustainable and/or healthy dietary practices in ECEC settings globally. The review will provide a descriptive and narrative synthesis of identified policies and practices, examining how health, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainability are conceptualised and operationalised. Findings will be used to identify gaps in the evidence base and inform future research, policy development, and practice aimed at strengthening sustainable and healthy food environments in early childhood education and care.