Healthy Child Care America


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American Academy of Pediatrics Health and Safety E-News for Caregivers and Teachers Resources
The following resources may be helpful to you as you help children learn about healthy behaviors: Healthy Eating Habits Increasing Physical Activity Caregivers as Role Models Other Health and Safety Resources Healthy Eating Habits Healthy From the Start: How Feeding Nurtures Your Young Child's Body, Heart, and Mind This booklet, endorsed by the AAP, offers parents and caregivers information on how feeding skills unfold over the first 3 years. Learn how feeding is much more than just about food—it is a chance to bond with children and nurture their social-emotional skills. Strategies for offering guidance to children at each stage of their development are included. Learn more in the Newsweek article that featured this booklet. Healthy Childcare Healthy Childcare is a bimonthly publication for child care programs that covers health and safety topics. Published 6 times a year, each issue includes information on health, safety, illnesses, medication administration, staff health, health education activities, and more. Reproducible parent information sheets and mini-posters are included. Below are some topics that have been featured related to nutrition: Building Healthy Eating Habits Family Style Eating Getting Picky Eaters to Pick Less & Eat More Menu Planning Nutrition Education for Preschoolers California Childcare Health Program The California Childcare Health Program provides a variety of fact sheets on health and safety topics for parents, child care providers, and child care health consultants in English and Spanish. Here are some resources related to healthy eating habits: Healthy Lunch Ideas Healthy Snacks for Toddlers and Preschoolers Healthy Eating and Activity for Your Child Nutrition and Activity for Young Children: Raising Physically Fit and Well Nourished Children New Dietary Guidelines Quenching Thirst: Healthy Drink Choices for Young Children Nutrition in Child Care Find recipes, shopping lists, ideas for keeping vegetarian children healthy, and more at the Child Care Nutrition Resource System developed in conjunction with the USDA. Bright Futures The Bright Futures Nutrition Family Fact Sheets (2002) are a series of handouts for families that highlight content from the Bright Futures in Practice: Nutrition publication. With these illustrated fact sheets, child care professionals can provide parents with nutrition resources that can help them talk to their child’s pediatrician about health concerns. To view the publications, click here and scroll down to Bright Futures Nutrition Family Fact Sheets. National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education The NRC offers a list of selected web sites that provide health and safety tips and information applicable to child care settings. Scroll down to “N” to find resources related to nutrition. Nutrition Explorations Learn how fun and easy it can be to teach nutrition with this great resource for parents, teachers, and caregivers. Article: Fruit Shown on Label Often Not in the Box, Kids' Food Study Says This article explains that it is important to read labels when purchasing foods. Many products that are marketed as “fruit”, often do not contain any fruit at all. Included is a list of products that are marketed as containing fruits, but have little or no fruit products as ingredients. Policy Statements from the AAP (for Health Professionals) Dietary Recommendations for Children and Adolescents: A Guide for Practitioners Prevention of Pediatric Overweight and Obesity The Use and Misuse of Fruit Juice in Pediatrics Increasing Physical Activity Healthy Childcare Healthy Childcare is a bimonthly publication for child care programs that covers health and safety topics. Below are some topics that have been featured related to physical activity: Daily Exercise & Fitness Activities Exercise Minutes Fitness for Toddlers and Preschoolers Wiggle Into Exercise California Childcare Health Program The California Childcare Health Program provides a variety of fact sheets on health and safety topics for parents, child care providers, and child care health consultants in English and Spanish. Here are some resources related to physical activity: Active Outdoor Play Childhood Obesity Nutrition and Activity for Young Children: Raising Physically Fit and Well Nourished Children Physical Activity Get ideas on how children, including infants and toddlers can be physically active in child care. Listed here are the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) Guidelines for Physical Activity in Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers. If you would like to purchase Active Start: A Statement of Physical Activity Guidelines for Children Birth to Five Years click here. Policy Statements from the AAP (for Health Professionals) Active Healthy Living: Prevention of Childhood Obesity Through Increased Physical Activity Physical Fitness and Activity in Schools Center for SCREEN-TIME Awareness This website provides parents with ideas on how they can limit the amount of television that their children watch and gives examples of alternative activities. Caregivers as Role Models Healthy Childcare Healthy Childcare is a bimonthly publication for child care programs that covers health and safety topics. Below are some topics that have been featured related to caregiver health: Balancing Daily Life "Diet" is a four letter word--L I F E Healthy Daily Eating Face the Fats Confused about fats? To help consumers better understand the recommended fat limits and make smarter choices, the new Face the Fats campaign from the American Heart Association features a Fats 101 crash course (framed within a cartoon character approach!), My Fats Translator, recipes, and more! No Smoking Mini-Poster Hang this poster in your center to remind child care providers and parents that your center is a smoke free environment. Other Health and Safety Resources AAP Children’s Health Topics The AAP website provides resource pages on a wide range of children’s health topics. To reach the resource page on nutrition, click here. To reach the resource page on physical activity, click here. Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards: Guidelines for Out-of-Home Child Care, 2nd Edition This manual contains national health and safety recommendations and guidelines for children in family-and center-based child care programs. This reference is considered to include the approved “AAP policies” on child care health and safety. Below are links that will take you directly to the section listed: Chapter 4 - Nutrition and Food Service Meal Pattern Requirements for Children Ages 1 Through 12 Years Chapter 2 - Program: Activities for Healthy Development Staff Modeling of Healthy Behavior/Health Education Topics for Staff Healthy Kids, Healthy Care This comprehensive website (which AAP members helped to develop) was created for parents with children in child care. Based on Caring for Our Children, this website provides information on a variety of child care health and safety topics as well as strategies and resources to help you talk with your child’s caregivers about how to improve health and safety practices. For the section on Meals and Snacks, click here. For the section on Physical Fitness and Promoting Healthy Weight, click here. For the section on Caregiver Health, click here. North Carolina Child Care Health and Safety Bulletin The NC Child Care Health and Safety Bulletin is a bimonthly bulletin that includes in-depth information about health and safety concerns in child care settings, as well as information that child care programs can share with parents. Here are some issues related to healthy behaviors: Nutrition: Food and Fitness for Young Children Child Nutrition Active Physical Play Caring for the Caregiver We Can! – Ways to Enhance Children’s Activity and Nutrition We Can! is a national program designed for families and communities to help children achieve a healthy weight. The program focuses on three important behaviors: improved food choices, increased physical activity and reduced screen time. We Can! resources include the “We Can! Energize Our Family: Curriculum for Parents and Caregivers,” science-based curricula for youth, and ideas for community events that can be held by local organizations. Color Me Healthy Color Me Healthy is a program with fun, interactive learning opportunities on physical activity and healthy eating designed to be used in family child care homes, Head Start classrooms, and child care centers serving 4 and 5 year olds. It is designed to stimulate all of the senses of young children: touch, smell, sight, sound, and, of course, taste. Through the use of color, music, and exploration of the senses, Color Me Healthy teaches children that healthy food and physical activity are fun. Click here for the Color Me Healthy Brochure. WIC Sharing Center The WIC Works Resource System (WWRS) is a joint project between the National Agricultural Library/Food and Nutrition Information Center, USDA/Food and Nutrition Service, and the University of Maryland. Find hundreds of electronic files in the state sharing section from various WIC State agencies on a wide variety of nutrition topics including downloadable materials from the obesity prevention initiative Fit WIC. Fit Source: A Web Directory for Providers This site links child care and afterschool providers to a wide variety of physical activity and nutrition resources. You will find links to activities, lesson plans, healthy recipes, information for parents, and many other downloadable tools that can be used to incorporate physical activity and nutrition into child care and afterschool programs. Sesame Street Healthy Habits for Life Get information on fun ways to help young children try a variety of new, healthy foods, tips for how to make physical activity a fun part of everyday family life, and much much more. All with the fun Sesame Street characters. Click here to view previous issues of E-News or to sign up to recieve this newsletter. Health and Safety E-News is provided by the American Academy of Pediatrics with support from the federal Child Care Bureau and Maternal and Child Health Bureau (Grant #U46MCO4436). If you are not yet signed up to receive this newsletter, click here. If you don't want to receive this newsletter, send an e-mail to childcare@aap.org.