Children’s is calling on all early childcare centers to join our fight against childhood obesity. Together, we can give kids a foundation for healthy habits that will last a lifetime.
One of our state’s youngest populations is facing a serious health crisis:
- Obesity rates in kids between the ages of 2 to 5 are increasing more than any other age group.
- Increasing obesity rates and poor health behaviors in adults directly impacts the health of children; research shows that a child has about a 40% chance of being obese if one parent is obese; if both parents are obese, the probability rises to 80%.
- Consistent physical activity and nutrition standards don’t exist for the more than 8,000 day care centers in Georgia.
We refuse to lose another generation to this crisis.
We believe it will take a multi-pronged approach focusing on parents, caregivers, and day care centers to attack childhood obesity in young children.
1. Educate school professionals
The cornerstone of our early learning strategy is Strong4Life Steps, our innovative nutrition and physical activity program designed specifically for children age 3 to 5.
Children’s is collaborating with centers in designated areas with higher rates of overweight/obese children to train teachers and provide them with our Strong4Life Steps toolkit. The toolkits include lesson plans that meet the Georgia early learning standards, along with posters and classroom activities that make learning about healthy habits fun. The kits also include resources for parents, such as newsletters, so that healthy behaviors can be reinforced at home.
2. Recognize best practices
In addition, Children’s is developing a certification program that will reward and recognize early learning centers that exhibit exemplary healthy performance. Our goal is to help daycare centers evaluate their programs and provide resources to create healthy centers.
3. Increase physical activity and healthy eating
We are also working to collaborate with other organizations to provide access to on-site garden programs, and programs that provide additional opportunities for nutrition education. We are exploring ways to improve food served at early learning centers by training chefs and nutrition directors on ways to create healthier menus and prepare more nutritious food.
Want to learn more about our early child care program? Contact us.