NEWS FROM COW AND GATE

DANCE DANCE BABY

COW & GATE IS SEARCHING FOR LITTLE ONES TO STAR IN NEW ADVERT

Cow & Gate, the baby feeding brand, is searching for little ones to be the personalities of a new advert, who will be found through the brands new campaign, Dance Dance Baby.

Whether it’s bouncing on their bottoms or whirling around, little ones love moving to music as a way to express themselves, and Cow & Gate wants to celebrate seeing their personalities come to life.

Following up the hugely popular 'Supergroup' TV ad, Cow & Gate is putting out the call for UK parents to share videos of their little ones personalities.

Parents are invited to upload videos via Dance Dance Baby of their little one, aged between nine months and three years, for the chance to be featured in Cow & Gate’s new advert. All videos must be uploaded by 15^th July 2013.

Bruce Newman, Cow & Gate Marketing Manager comments: "At Cow & Gate we love it when little one’s show their personalities, which is why we're really excited about our new brand activation to find little personalities to star in our new advert.”

For more information visit www.dancedancebaby.co.uk

NEWS FROM GROWING UP MILK

GROWING UP MILK LAUNCHES UK'S

 FIRST VITAMIN D DAY 

Vitamin D Day to shine spotlight on vitamin D

LONDON (26 MARCH, 2013) At the dawn of British summertime 2013, growingupmilkinfo.com launches the UK's first Vitamin D Day (31 March) to raise awareness about the importance of the vitamin for toddler development.

The first day of British summertime marks the start of when the sun is at the right angle for our bodies to make vitamin D. This period from April to September is vital as it is the only time Brits can receive vitamin D from the sun. Experts agree that the limited sunshine in the UK does not always give toddlers the opportunity to get all the vitamin D they need, which is why they recommend that toddlers have vitamin D rich diets and take supplements to help support their growth and development.

With a recent survey highlighting that the majority of UK mums (91%)i don't know the recommended dietary intake of vitamin D for toddlers, Vitamin D Day has been created to address misconceptions, and educate the nation's parents, about the role of diet in providing the essential vitamin.

Health expert and ITV's This Morning regular, Dr Chris Steele, who is backing Vitamin D Day, stressed the importance of dietary intake of vitamin D for toddlers. He said: "Many parents are confused about how much vitamin D is needed for the normal growth of toddler bones and teeth.

He added: "The lack of vitamin D in toddler diets is a growing health concern and we need to ensure that our toddlers are getting the best from their diets. Presently, the average British toddler is only getting 27% of their daily vitamin D RNIii which is a major concern as the sun cannot be relied upon alone to fulfil a toddler's vitamin D needs."

Leading weather intelligence company Metra Weather expects that the first months of this summertime will not be much better than the washout summer of 2012, with warm summer temperatures not expected until May and another dull and wet July iii.

Growingupmilkinfo.com nutritionist, Dr Leanne Olivier, commented: "With the unpredictable weather, toddlers in the UK are considered vulnerable to low-levels of vitamin D.

"And it's harder to get vitamin D from the sun north of Birmingham with toddlers in the cities of Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leeds and Sheffield indexing higher for low levels of the vitamin. This also applies to toddlers who have darker skin or cover up for cultural reasons, with this in mind it is imperative that a toddlers' vitamin D intake is supplemented through diet."

Vitamin D Day aims to educate Brits on the food sources, like oily fish, liver and eggs, as well as food and milks fortified with vitamin D, such as fortified breakfast cereals and Growing Up Milk, to help supplement vitamin D levels in our little ones' diets.

A range of activities will be taking place in the lead up to the awareness day such as vitamin D cooking classes with mums, recipes from toddler chef Fiona Faulkner, and a vitamin D Q&A video with Dr Chris Steele, which will feature on the newly developed Growing Up Milk Info website.

For information on healthy ways to help your toddler top-up their daily vitamin D intake, download free toddler meal planners, or get advice from health experts, visit growingupmilkinfo.com.

NEWS FROM COW & GATE GROWING UP MILK

THE WINTER POTTY LIST

Or 24 things to do before spring

It may be cold outside but there’s no need for toddlers to hibernate this winter with Growingupmilkinfo’s fun guide of things to do with your little one. The team from the toddler nutrition website are back with a list of must-do activities toddlers should have ticked off before spring has sprung.

From building a den to getting messy in the kitchen, the list has been created using suggestions from parents nationwide and experts, including children’s play expert Adrian Voce OBE and Growingupmilkinfo.com nutritionist Leanne Olivier.  The list is made up of 24 activities, one for each day of the weekend, to keep toddlers entertained and topped-up with essential nutrients throughout the winter. 

The Winter Potty List is not only a celebration of fun things that parents can do with their little ones, it also includes ways to ensure your toddler gets the hard to get nutrients they need, especially the ‘sunshine vitamin’, vitamin D, which children often lack in the winter time.  

The 24 must-do activities that make up ‘The Winter Potty List’ include:

·         Build a den with the biggest cardboard box you can find

·         Find lots of mummy’s funny clothes and play dress up 

·         Make music in the kitchen using your plate, pans, and a wooden spoon

·         Walk through a pile of leaves as big as you

·         Play chef for a day and design funny faces for Fisherman’s Jackets (jacket potato with yummy tuna) or yummy fish cakes. Not only is it fun but it’s a good source of vitamin D too

·         Make a warm drink and snuggle up in front of a Christmas movie

·         Host a teddy bears’ picnic, tucking into nutritious snacks and a beaker of Growing Up Milk, while mum sits back with a cuppa

·         Touch, Smell and Taste game: Try it with healthy foods, like tinned salmon, crunchy carrots and Growing Up Milk

·         Get your hands messy in the kitchen and make festive fruit flapjacks or fruit scones

·         Make a rain catcher

·         Decorate your room with handmade snowflakes

·         Build a snowman (or a snowdog, if there isn't enough snow!)

·         Decorate a gingerbread house

·         Play musical statues

·         Dance in the rain

·         Hold a treasure hunt around the house

·         Put on a Christmas concert

·         Get creative and make Christmas wrapping paper and gift tags

·         Make salt dough prints of your hands and feet

·         Make a snow angel

·         Visit Santa and his little elves

·         Camp out in the lounge using a bed sheet for a tent

·         Pop on your wellington boots and jump in the mud

·         Take a walk in the woodlands

Children’s play expert Adrian Voce comments: “Playing for toddlers is the way they discover and develop their own capacity to create and manipulate things, to explore their senses and how they come to know themselves. All of the activities on the Winter Potty List are filled with wonder for toddlers.

“Children’s play can have an extremely positive effect on a toddler’s happiness and health, which is why it’s so important to provide your little one with adequate opportunities for play. Growingupmilkinfo.com’s Winter Potty list is an easy way to get active, explore new experiences and, most importantly, have fun with your little one during the often dreary winter months.”

Growingupmilkinfo.com nutritionist, Leanne Olivier, adds: “It’s impossible for toddlers to get vitamin D from the UK sun at this time of the year, so it’s important that toddlers get a daily dietary intake. Unfortunately vitamin D is one of those nutrients that can be hard to get in the daily diet because it’s not found naturally in many foods; especially ones that toddlers like to eat.

“Oily fish and liver aren’t to every toddler’s taste buds, but Growing Up Milk, which is a fortified milk drink, is a great way to ensure that your toddler gets a daily boost of vitamin D in their diet. The Winter Potty List includes some tasty activities where you can use Growing Up Milk to top up your toddler’s daily diet.”

The years from one-to-three are an amazing period of growth and development for toddlers, so it comes as no surprise that they need the right nutrition, including vitamin D, to support them during this time. In the UK, toddlers’ opportunities to get vitamin D from the sun are severely limited during the winter months. This makes it even more important for parents to ensure they are getting all the essential nutrients they need through their diet.

Growing Up Milk is made from cows’ milk enriched with key nutrients that toddlers need, like vitamins D, A and C, iron, calcium and omega 3 & 6. Just two 150ml beakers of Growing Up Milk each day provides 73 per cent of a toddler’s reference nutrient intake of vitamin D and is an easy way to top up your toddler’s daily intake of essential nutrients.

~Ends~

For more information, contact:

Frank PR 0207 693 6999

toddlercensus@frankpr.it

Notes to Editors:

·         Growingupmilkinfo.com is a resource created by Cow and Gate for parents who want to find out how using a Growing Up Milk for children aged one to three can support toddler nutrition