While the Virginia Early Care and Education Learning Collaborative (ECELC) group was filled with stories of positive changes in healthy eating and active play, one story stood out as particularly heartwarming and a testament to collaboration. Valbona (Val) Bytyqi and Ann Marie Ries met at the very first ECELC session in Alexandria, Virginia. Both are […]
Healthy Way to Grow (HWTG), a joint program between the American Heart Association and Nemours Children’s Health System, is a national, science-based, early childhood technical assistance program to help improve practices and policies for obesity prevention. With 60 percent of American children spending a majority of their day in early childhood programs, the goal of […]
These presentation slides may be used by state agencies, sponsoring organizations, and others to train providers, operators, and menu planners on the CACFP meal patterns. Presentations are designed for interactive 30-minute trainings. The following presentations are available in both English and Spanish: Choose Breakfast Cereals That Are Lower in Added Sugars Choose Yogurts That Are […]
Conway Cradle Care located in Conway, Arkansas, serves adolescent parents who are continuing their high school educations. Childcare is provided to enable teen parents to attend school, as well as a mentoring program to teach these young parents valuable parenting and life skills. Some of the young parents they serve were unfamiliar with choosing and/or […]
In July 2019, results of the Nemours Children’s Health System’s National Early Care and Education Learning Collaboratives (ECELC) project were published in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease. The ECELC project, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), involved nearly 1,200 child care programs in 10 states. This collaborative is the largest of […]
Maggie Gray, the Director of Brainy Tots Bilingual Preschool in Florissant, Missouri, discovered she and the children in her family child care program were eating the same fruits and vegetables each day. Although they were eating nutritious meals, Maggie felt the menus weren’t adventurous enough. After some reflection, Maggie decided to promote change in her […]
A March 2019 brief by Healthy Eating Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, states that NAPSACC (i.e.: Nutrition And Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care) has the “best evidence for impact” on obesity prevention in young children. Developed by the Children’s Healthy Weight Research Group at the UNC Center for Health […]
Even though early care and education (ECE) providers in the National Early Care and Education Learning Collaborative (ECELC) were learning about healthy goals, they found it challenging to make connections and build relationships with other providers in their respective areas. Providers felt they had limited time and resources. Through ECELC, providers in Faulkner and Mississippi […]
Obesity is a growing problem among toddlers, children and adolescents in the United States. Gaining weight and fat mass rapidly during the first six months of life is one risk factor that can lead to obesity in children. A University of Minnesota School of Public Health study, recently published in the journal Nutrients, examined the […]
Physical activity is critical for healthy development in the young, but many children are being left behind. Physical Activity Research Center (PARC) investigators have examined physical activity across built environments, parks and recreation, schools, and rural areas—-all through an equity lens. Years of research tell us there are many influences on young people’s physical activity […]