Nutritional Health & Wellbeing Are
Important When Making Childcare Choices
G
iven just how important a role other early education and child
care providers will play in your children’s overall nutritional
health and wellbeing, here are the latest child care–specific
recommendations derived from obesity-prevention strategies developed by
the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Public Health Associa-
tion, and the National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care
and Early Education. Keep the answers to the following questions in mind,
whether you’re setting out to find child care for the first time or taking a
closer look at your children’s current environment.
General. Do you have a written nutrition plan and/or menus? If so,
were they developed by or with input from a qualified nutritionist or dieti-
tian and do they meet all state requirements and US Department of Agricul-
ture recommendations?
Breastfeeding. Will you be able to help me continue to breastfeed my
baby? Will I be able to come in and nurse? Are you comfortable with (and
well trained in) feeding my baby pumped breast milk?
Infant Feeding. How are babies bottle fed? Do you have policies
against bottle propping? Do you have the ability to provide babies with
one-on-one feeding time? What methods do you have for documenting how
much and how often babies drink? Do you follow the recommendation to
wait to serve solid complementary foods until the baby is about 6 months?
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Self-feeding. Are older infants and children adequately supervised
during feeding time? Are they allowed/encouraged to practice feeding
themselves using age-appropriate feeding supplies and adult assistance
when needed?
Safety. What sort of training do you have to respond to potential food-
related emergencies such as choking and/or allergic reactions? Are children
allowed to wander while snacking and/or eat in places other than sitting
down at the table?
Allergies. Are you able to accommodate children with allergies? What
policies and procedures do you have in place to ensure that children will not
inadvertently be exposed to the food(s) they’re allergic to? Are there writ-
ten procedures and do you/your staff have training in how to respond to an
allergic reaction — including safe storage and appropriate, effective use of
an epinephrine injector?
Drinks. For children over a year of age, what do you routinely serve
for drinks? Do you offer whole or 2% milk for children under 2 and 1% or
skim for kids 2 years old and older? Is clean drinking water readily avail-
able, easily accessible to even young children, and encouraged throughout
the day? Do you make a point of limiting (or not serving) juice, and — if
you do serve it — is it 100% juice?
Nutrition Education. What sort of opportunities do you offer chil-
dren to learn about food and healthy eating? Do they get to participate in
age-appropriate activities such as cooking; gardening; or reading and learn-
ing about fruits, vegetables, and other nutritious foods while in your care?
Physical Activity. In addition to focusing on nutrition, do you also
provide children with age-appropriate opportunities for daily physical ac-
tivity? What sort of activities do you offer? Do all children get to spend
time outside daily (weather permitting) and what do they do instead if the
weather doesn’t cooperate?
Screen Time. In recognizing that television (and other screen time) can
have a negative impact on healthy, active lifestyles, do you limit the amount
of time that children are allowed to watch television and/or movies while in
your care? What about kids under the age of 2? If/when children are permit-
ted to watch, what is the total amount of time on any given day (and week),
and what are they allowed to watch?
February 2019 WNY Family 31