Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity in Child Care and Early Education Programs

Professional Resource Brief

Websites

• Bright Futures at Georgetown University: One Step At A Time: Helping Young Children Be Physically Active!. Training modules for child care professionals that cover the importance of physical activity for children and how child care professionals can promote physical activity. Includes examples of activities and resources.
  
  
• Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). Program information and resources about nutrition-assistance programs, including the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), which provides nutritious meals and snacks each day to more than 3.3 million children and 120,000 adults as part of the day care they receive. Presents data and statistics, forms, nutrition-education materials, regulations and policy, and research about nutrition-assistance programs. Includes
  
  Team Nutrition. Nutrition-education materials and guides for providing nutritious meals in child care.
  
  Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care (NAP SACC) program, a research-tested intervention designed to enhance policies, practices, and environments in child care to promote healthy eating and physical activity.
  
  
• National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Resources for early childhood programs and advocates about child nutrition, physical activity, and obesity prevention.
  
  
• National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education (NRC). Health and safety standards and tools for families and child care providers, health consultants, and regulators. Presents licensing toolkits to ensure that child care environments promote healthy weight by avoiding or limiting foods high in sugar, using water and 100 percent juice, and limiting screen time. View individual states' child care licensure regulations for nutrition, physical activity, and obesity prevention. Includes
  
  Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards—Guidelines for Early Care and Education Programs, 4th ed. (2019). The manual is a joint collaborative project of NRC, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the American Public Health Association (APHA). View the set of national standards describing evidence-based best practices in nutrition, physical activity, and screen time for early care and education programs in Preventing Childhood Obesity in Early Care and Education Programs, 2nd ed (2011).
  
  Family Checklist for Nutrition in Early Care and Education. (2011).
  Family Checklist for Physical Activity in Early Care and Education. (2011).
  

Additional Electronic Resources

• See the MCH Digital Library resource brief, Maternal and Child Health Literature and Research Databases and, in particular, the entries for the Child Care and Early Education Research Connections: Research Collection, the Inclusive Child Care Resource Library, the National Agricultural Library (NAL) Catalog (AGRICOLA), and PubMed.
  

Related MCH Digital Library Resources

• Breastfeeding resource brief
• Child Care organizations list
• Food Safety resource brief
• Food Security and Nutrition Assistance Programs resource brief
• Nutrition in Children and Adolescents professional resource guide, family resource brief, school resource brief
• Overweight and Obesity in Children and Adolescents professional resource guide, family resource brief, school resource brief
• Physical Activity and Children and Adolescents professional resource guide, family resource brief, school resource brief
  

Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity in Child Care and Early Education Programs: Resource Brief. (December 2012). (Updated: December 2014; May 2024, October 2024).

Author: Susan Brune Lorenzo, M.L.S., MCH Digital Library.
Reviewers: S. Jean Emans, M.D., Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School; Alison Field, Sc.D., Boston Children's Hospital; Stephanie Loup, M.P.H. and R.D. candidate, University of Minnesota; Shree Mohanty, M.A., M.S., R.D., L.D., Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Region V; Olivia Pickett, M.A., M.L.S., MCH Digital Library; Tracy Richmond, M.D., M.P.H., Boston Children's Hospital; Mikaela Robertson, M.P.H. and R.D. candidate, University of Minnesota; Kendrin Sonneville, R.D., Sc.D., Boston Children's Hospital.
Editor: Ruth Barzel, M.A., MCH Digital Library.