Resources for Child Care Providers

Promoting Healthy Eating in the Child Care and Preschool Setting

Eating patterns and food preferences of children are established at an early age.1 For this reason, early child care education programs should be thought of as a “window of opportunity” to expose and encourage children to make healthy food choices.  One behavioral target that has been identified as an appropriate method to prevent obesity in young children is to increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables.1 Since 2008, the Imperial County Public Health Department (ICPHD), with funding from the Imperial County Children and Families First Commission, has worked with early child care sites to implement the First Five: Healthy Children, Healthy Lives Program which focus on obesity prevention strategies.

References
1.     May, A.L., & Dietz W.H. (2010). The feeding infants and toddlers study 2008: opportunities to assess parental, cultural, and environmental influences on dietary behaviors and obesity prevention among young children. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 110 (suppl 3), S11-S15.

Healthy Tips for Picky Eaters

Kitchen Activities

Start Your Preschool on the Path to Healthy Eating

Promoting Healthy Eating by Building and Maintaining Gardens

Promoting Physical Activity using Playgrounds for Movement Stencil Kit

The promotion of physical activity is important to help prevent chronic diseases such as: obesity, and Type 2 diabetes. The purpose of Painting Preschools Playgrounds for Movement, is to support physical activity opportunities throughout the day. Improved playgrounds, using stencil designs, will:
  • Increase children's levels of physical activity
  • promote the development of fundamental motor skills
  • create environments that encourage physical activity
  • compliment academic learning concepts through movement  
Attached is the Painting Preschool Playgrounds for Movement: Contents & Overview. 

Little Hands Growing & Cooking Healthy Foods

A Gardening and Cooking Toolkit

​This toolkit has been developed to assist local early care centers and preschools in Imperial County who want to start a garden and/or want to implement healthy eating and active living sensory exploration activities at their sites.

​It includes tools and resources that can be incorporated into the daily child care programming and are intended to help young children develop taste preferences for fruits and vegetables and increase the awareness of how fruits and vegetables are grown.

To view the toolkit, click on the image (left) or click here.

Other Resources

Nemours and the National Association of Childcare Referral Agencies developed a website with fun ideas and helpful hints to make it easier for parents and child care centers to ensure kids get a healthy start with good nutrition and physical activity.
Mealtime Memo for Child Care offers information for child care providers participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program, focused on good nutrition for young children. Click here for Spanish Mealtime Memo's.
MyPlate is an interactive website that offers many information for individuals and families who want to learn more about healthy, well-balanced meals. Click here for MyPlate in Spanish. For information specific to preschoolers, click here. If you would like information for school age children, click here.