Childhood Obesity: Increase the percentage of Arkansas children and adolescents at a healthy weight
Number of participating Early Childhood Education Centers (ECE's) that achieve level 2 or 3 in the Better Beginnings Program
Current Value
39.0%
Definition
Story Behind the Curve
Early childhood is a critical time for cognitive, social, physical and motor skill development. ECE's that exceed the minimum standards will:
- Contribute to child health and help prevent chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease
- Supplement nutrition in the home and community
- Include opportunities for physical activity
Child care programs play an important role in providing all children access to the varied and nutritious foods they need to stay healthy and learn well.
Regular physical activity is important to children's health and development. It increases muscle and bone strength, helps maintain healthy weight, enhances psychological well-being and provides numerous health benefits, including reduces risk of chronic diseases, such as heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes and osteoporosis.
Nutrition and Physical Activity Best Practices for Child Care Centers: https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/dc/childcare-phys-best.pdf
Action Guide for Child Care Nutrition and Physical Activity Policies: Best Practices for Creating a Healthy Child Care Environment: https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/SDE/Nutrition/CACFP/CCPolicy/CCAG.pdf?la=en
Partners
- The Arkansas Coalition for Obesity Prevention (ArCOP)
- Healthy Active Arkansas
- Arkansas Department of Human Services, Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education (DHS)
- Association of State Public Health Nutritionists
- A-State Childhood Services Child Care Resources and Referral (CCR&R) agencies
- Child-care facilities across Arkansas
What Works
Strong licensure requirements and voluntary programs that help centers exceed the minimum standards can help improve nutrition and physical activity in Early Childhood Centers (ECEs). These programs/changes require center staff, administration, and client support along with knowledge, staff time, materials and sometimes equipment to implement. Training and resources for ECEs are necessary for ECEs to make improvements in nutrition and physical activity, to change policy and procedures and implement new programs. Strong partnerships across a variety of organizations are key to improvements.
Strategy
Strategy 1: Support mandatory evidence-based nutrition education to improve the health of children attending early child care centers.
Clear Impact Suite is an easy-to-use, web-based software platform that helps your staff collaborate with external stakeholders and community partners by utilizing the combination of data collection, performance reporting, and program planning.