How to Promote Wellness, Nutrition Health and Safety for Young Children?

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Obesity in America has become a major problem among young people; many children face a lack of nutrition in their body and the required fitness. Kids these days seem less active and healthy. Thus, there is a need for promoting health safety and nutrition in child care.
Health safety and nutrition can be promoted by involving kids in the menu and food preparation process. This technique gives children the opportunity to practice some autonomy in food choices, learn what is in different dishes and discover how to handle food safely. The caregiver can implement various activities for this purpose, such as having kids design the layout and style of a menu through an arts and crafts project.

Provide Training

Children have inadequate health safety and nutrition in part because child care providers don’t always have health safety and nutrition training. Leaders of child care facilities may promote health safety by providing educational classes for workers. Employees can then apply what they learn during their shifts. This training does not need to be limited to workers, however. Facilities can also train parents and other caregivers through classes or educational media children take home.
Children are still developing reading skills when they are in child care. Providers can take advantage of this and design activities for reading nutrition labels. For example, they could have students find labels with milk as an ingredient. Caregivers can also incorporate math lessons by having students divide foods into portions according to the serving recommendations on the nutrition label.

Host Educational Programs and Trips

Nutrition can be inculcated in students by involving them in the entire food manufacturing process. Children can prepare soil, plant seeds, water plants and harvest fruits and vegetables. If a child care facility does not have the space or funding for a program like this, providers can still take children on field trips to local farms or processing plants so kids can learn how food grows and is prepared.

Team HG