Fighting Childhood Obesity

creative ways to improve preschoolers’ nutrition and physical activity

Zoe Phillips, MPH, CHES

Center for Food & Justice, Occidental College

Childhood Obesity

• Childhood obesity is considered to be in epidemic proportions

• Children as young as age 3 being diagnosed • Increasing trend for past 10 years• Can lead to heart disease, diabetes, and high

blood pressure • Type II diabetes- used to be adult onset only, now

includes children• Mostly due to over-eating and being sedentary;

some genetics

Childcare Settings

• Almost 40% children in L.A. County (aged 0-5) in childcare

• Many preschool-aged children eat most of their meals during childcare

• Children develop strong relationships with their childcare providers

• Providers are role models for children• Childcare settings have enormous potential to

positively influence children’s diets and physical activity levels

Nutrition in Childcare

• Every meal and snack counts when children are under your care

• Current beverage recommendations are milk and water; discourage juice

• If reimbursed under CACFP, think about surpassing, rather than just meeting, guidelines

• Children’s food preferences are formed during these years

• Have an innate ability to self-regulate their food intake

Improving Nutrition

• Offer healthy meals and snacks– When possible, get seasonal produce

• Offer healthy beverages• Offer foods repeatedly – don’t get discouraged• Eat with children and eat healthily• Incorporate a nutrition program or activities into

your routine• Involve parents and help educate them

Nutrition-Based Programs

• Nutrition and garden-based programs well established in K-12

• Preschool curricula comes in all shapes and sizes– Spotty design and evaluation methods– Many outdated – Variable topics and activities

• Many childcare settings are doing nutrition-related activities but not considered a “program”

Nutrition-Based Programs

• CFJ researched almost 40 different curricula• Come in many shapes and sizes

– Nutrition only– Nutrition + physical activity– Garden-based learning– General guidelines or specific lesson plans– Range from free of charge to over $400– Specific to a region, state, ethnicity, or general– Range from requiring little prep to sewing puppets

Merced Harvest of the Month

• Follows “HOTM” for K-12 but developed for preschoolers

• Resources for preschool educators to support healthy food choices

• http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/nut/lacollab/lacollab.htm

• Cost: free• Weekly lessons for 12 months: ~30 minutes each• Book reading and an activity (art or math and

science) correlated with food of the month• Components: children’s books, activities, taste tests,

and food experiences

Curriculum: Activity Packets

Early Sprouts

• Research-based garden curriculum learning about, growing, and eating vegetables through a “seed to table” approach

• http://www.earlysprouts.org/• Cost: $16.47 (amazon.com)• 24-week curriculum with 1 lesson per week

– Lessons focus on a vegetable/fruit for 30-60 min– Includes multiple recipes for each item

• Components: sensory exploration activity followed by a recipe and cooking activity

Curriculum: single book

Show Me Nutrition

• Encourages children to try new foods and make healthy choices

• http://extension.missouri.edu/publications/DisplayPub.aspx?P=SMN101

• Cost: $50• Eleven lessons: book on healthy eating, a

physical activity, food-tasting activity, “healthy habits” activity, and parent newsletter

• Components: children’s books, taste tests, and food experiences

Curriculum: Booklet and CD

Eat Well Play Hard:In a Childcare Setting

• NY State Department of Health nutrition program • Aims to increase physical activity and

consumption of fruits and vegetables• http://www.health.state.ny.us/prevention/

nutrition/resources/eat_well_play_hard/• Cost: Free• Ten topics with 5 lessons each (15 min)• Resources for parent nutrition education• Components: food experience and activities

Curriculum: Online Book

Healthy Beginnings

• Promotes development of good nutrition and physical activity

• http://www.co.shasta.ca.us/html/Public_Health/services/Preschool_Daycare_Resources.htm

• Cost: most resources online for free• Thirteen nutrition based lessons, 9 physical

activity lessons, 12 yoga poses• Components: food experiences, taste tests, and

nutrition games, physical activities

Curriculum: Online Downloads

Eat a Rainbow Kit

• Standards-based and hands-on teaching tool designed to boost kids’ enjoyment of healthful foods

• Not specifically for preK but modifiable• http://www.gardeningwithkids.org/21-5011.html• Cost: $39.95 (“Deluxe Kit”)• Six garden- and taste-based classroom activities• Components: gardening activities with provided

soil, seeds, vegetable wheel

Curriculum: Booklet & Planting Kit

Animal Trackers

• Physical activity and motor skills development• http://www.healthy-start.com/prog_anim.html• Cost: $79.95• Ten units devoted entirely to motor skill

development, each with a different animal theme• Components: physical activities for both in-class

and for families at home

Curriculum: Book & Music CD

Food for Thought: Nutrition Across the Curriculum

• CA state Dept of Education-hosted website under construction

• CD-ROM available; cost: $19.95• Thirty-two nutrition lessons with related

classroom activities and books • Incorporates food experiences and recipes• Components: nutrition activities, math and

science experiences, children’s books• Will offer teaching credits through online classes

Curriculum: CD-ROM

Farm to Preschool Program

• Center for Food & Justice, Occidental College• Two year grant-funded pilot program• Facilitate relationships with farmers, farmers’

markets, or local food distributors– Change meal and snack offerings

• Provide nutrition education for children and parents– In-class activities, parent fun “nights”

• Train teachers• Evaluation tools for dissemination

Informational Flyer

Curriculum

• Modifying the Merced County prek HOTM• Providing activity kits to pilot sites

Books, lessons, recipes, taste test ideas

• Farmer in the Classroom, field trips• Extensive parent outreach

– Fun nights (workshops): Doc Talks, nutrition presentations (healthy eating, reading labels, portion distortion, etc), taste tests, cooking demos, booths with handouts, Fresh Food Access Guide, HOTM newsletters

Online Resources

• UC Davis Cooperative Extension: The Lunch Box series for preschoolers

• http://www.uwex.edu/ces/wnep/teach/lunchbox.cfm• USDA’s Nibbles for Health• http://teamnutrition.usda.gov/Resources/nibbles.html• Contra Costa Child Care Council: Helping Kids Eat

Well & Be Active• http://w2.cocokids.org/_cs/downloadables/cc-

healthnutrition-bulletin-board-book.pdf

More Online Resources

• Harvest of the Month• http://www.harvestofthemonth.com/• http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/nut/

LACOLLAB_Files/documents/HOTM/HOTM%20Resources.htm

• Network for a Healthy California

• http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/CPNS/Pages/default.aspx

• California Project LEAN• http://www.californiaprojectlean.org/

HOTM Teacher Training

• Beyond the Basics- Nutrition Education Strategies– Training session of PreK Harvest of the Month Toolkit

for teachers

• Offered through the L.A. County Dept of Public Health

• On August 4th, Downey (8:45am)• Website to RSVP:

http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/phcommon/public/conf/confPubAddForm.cfm?unit=nut&ou=ph&prog=cdpp&confID=31

Nutrition Programs-Components

• Meal and snack recipes• Harvest of the Month• Food preparation (food “experiences”)• Taste tests• Cooking demos• Field trips• In-class and special event presentations• Lesson plans and/or planned physical activity• Parent education• Experiential learning through gardening and field trips

Physical Activity Programs-Components

• Yoga poses• Interactive games• Music-based• Indoor/outdoor• Family activity tipsheets• Special equipment/everyday items• Stand-alone or paired with nutrition

Garden-Based Programs- Components

• Sensory experiences (experiential learning)• Instructional guide/soil and seeds• Many options: growing kits, wheelbarrows,

filtrexx gardensoxx, containers, composting• Physical activity• Gardening/cooking activities• Recipes for families• Limitation: dedicated upkeep • Myth: you need space for a garden

Benefits of Fresh Food

• Food deserts: lack of access to fresh fruits and vegetables

• Barrier: perceived to be expensive• More nutritious• Tastes better• Eating fresh produce should become a life-long

habit• Healthy habits lead to a longer life

Beyond Fresh Food- Go Local

• Good for the economy• Support family/small/medium farms and good

farming practices• Food at its freshest – tastes better• Better for the environment• Can and should be affordable• Access points: farmers’ markets, farmers, CSA

boxes, food distributors…SCHOOLS

Workgroup Activity• Separate into small groups• Identify nutritional program elements that are

important to you and your childcare setting– Think about activities involving children and

their parents• Establish an action plan of how you would

implement this program or related activities– Budget constraints– Available time and resources– Be ambitious but realistic

In Summary

• Take advantage of your influence on children• Help improve the health and diets of young

children• Help form preferences for fresh fruits and

vegetables• Improve your own diet and nutrition knowledge• Get to know your parent-base and get them

excited• Have fun when planning and implementing

activities

Contact Info

Zoe Phillips: Occidental College (Eagle Rock)

323-341-5098

phillipsz@oxy.edu http://departments.oxy.edu/uepi/

* Many thanks to Giulia Pasciuto for research on nutrition curricula*

Contact me for:

Questions

Materials and resources

Further reading

Volunteer for Dept of Ed. pilot testing

Networking