Nurture Healthy Eaters

Healthy eating is necessary for healthy development.  That’s why it’s so important to offer children healthy food choices; options that will nurture their bodies and fuel brain development.  Food preferences start to develop in infancy. Early childhood is also a critical time to learn about recognizing and responding to hunger cues. Children form lifelong eating habits based on the kinds of foods served to them when they are young.  But it’s not just about the foods served — healthy eating habits are influenced by the entire mealtime experience, as well as other learning activities involving food like gardening and taste tests.

Build a Healthy Eating Relationship
As a child care provider, you are in partnership with children in fostering their healthy eating habits.  Create a routine and provide nourishing choices. Engage children with smelling, tasting and feeling the food.  Have fun while you teach where food comes from.  Take a field trip to the local farmers’ market or pick your own farm.  Grow a garden and cook together.

Infants, toddlers and preschoolers all let us know when they are hungry.  The way we respond to their cues will help them to be comfortable with eating a variety of foods and to respect their own hunger or fullness feelings.

Create a Happy Atmosphere for Healthy Eating
The goal of child care center meals is to meet the child’s nutritional needs and create positive eating habits that will last a lifetime. Early learning staff can provide healthy menus and mealtime routines.  During meals, children learn not only healthy eating habits, but learn about being understood, respected and cared for.

Talk about healthy foods — describe them and respond positively to children’s reactions. Show children how to share the responsibility of community food activities: preparing, serving, eating and cleaning up. Children want to learn new things and want to help. Share your enthusiasm for healthy eating, and the wonder and joy of discovering new foods.

Reinforce each child’s feeding process — whether they taste or gobble, grasp or drop. It is all part of the joy of learning about food and mealtime rituals.  As children grow physically, they are also developing an awareness of sharing both the enjoyment of, and the responsibility for, healthy eating.

Remember: Babies should not be introduced to foods other than breast milk or formula until they are about six months of age, unless otherwise directed by a health care provider.

Find kid-friendly recipes using healthy food choices for toddlers and preschoolers, menu planning guides, healthy eating tips, shopping lists and more.

For Family Child Care:

Healthy Harvest

Harvest for Healthy Kids teaches young children about fruits and vegetables through free activity kits that combine science, math and literacy. Each kit includes hands-on activities, colorful picture cards and newsletters for families.

Find more family child care resources. »

 

For Parents:

Go, Slow and Whoa!

Think of foods in terms of “Go, Slow, or Whoa!” The healthiest foods are “go” foods. Foods that are ok to eat sometimes are “slow” foods. Some unhealthy choices should make you think, “Whoa! Should I eat that?”

Print the “Go, Slow, Whoa!” chart for families »

NEW MEAL PATTERN GUIDELINES FOR CACFP

Early care and education programs who receive food program (CACFP) assistance should now be in compliance with new meal pattern guidelines (effective October 1, 2017). Make sure your menus and procurement reflect these changes.

Learn about new CACFP guidelines.

Professional Development:

HKHF Training Module — Nurture Healthy Eaters

Healthy Kids, Healthy Future training modules were developed in partnership with PennState’s Better Kid Care and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These learning modules provide practical strategies for implementing best practices in early childhood settings for promoting healthy habits in young children. The series includes six lessons that cover background information for childhood obesity prevention and the five best practice goals: increase physical activity, limit screen time, offer healthy beverages, serve healthy food, and support breastfeeding.

Healthy Kids, Healthy Future – Nurture Healthy Eaters will help ECE providers identify the benefits of offering healthy food, understand how to provide healthy food choices, determine strategies and ideas to encourage healthy eating, and learn about resources available.