Nutrition and Physical Activity
Child Care Health Consultant Competency 13: Nutrition and Physical Activity
(Source: Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center, Child Care Health Consultant Competencies)
CCHCs support programs in ensuring access to nutritious food and mealtime practices and environments that are safe and developmentally appropriate for children. A CCHC also:
- Demonstrates understanding of nutritional needs and safe feeding practices for healthy growth and development in infants and children
- Helps programs with development and implementation of written nutrition plans and procedures to meet programmatic needs
- Observes programs for implementation of food safety and sanitation practices, including food selection, storage, preparation, meal service, and clean up
- Helps programs encourage and support breastfeeding for young children in their care and ensure safe handling and storage of breast milk
- Works with programs to maintain a safe and developmentally appropriate physical and emotional environment at mealtimes that does not use food to bribe, reward, or punish
- Collaborates with programs, caregivers, and health care providers to develop individualized feeding plans and dietary modifications for children with special health care needs, food allergies, or other health conditions
- Connects programs, as appropriate, to community agencies, the state’s Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), nutritionists, or registered dietitians to provide nutrition services and consultation
- Helps programs identify resources to address families’ nutritional needs including food security and provide breastfeeding support
CCHCs work together with programs to ensure staff are able to provide infants with sufficient opportunities for physical activity throughout the day, and toddlers, preschool, and school-aged children have opportunities for moderate to vigorous physical activity. A CCHC also:
- Helps programs understand how physical activity contributes to maintenance of healthy weight and development of gross motor, social and emotional, and cognitive skills
- Collaborates with programs to develop written policies for the promotion of active indoor and outdoor physical activity
- Works with programs to identify and remove potential barriers to indoor and outdoor physical activity (for example, by ensuring children and staff have appropriate clothing and shoes)
- Helps programs integrate developmentally appropriate physical activity into children’s daily routine, including outdoor play and indoor structured and free active play, and tummy time for infants
- Ensures staff receive training opportunities to learn about age-appropriate gross motor activities and games that promote children’s physical activity and limit screen time and other digital media
Find a CCHC in your community.
Featured Initiatives and Resources:
The NC BFCCD recognizes licensed early care and education (ECE) facilities that promote, protect, and support breastfeeding. ECE programs are awarded the NC BFCCD for achieving each of the five standards for breastfeeding-friendly child care: written policy, community connections, professional development, environment, and curriculum. These standards reflect the Ten Steps to Breastfeeding-Friendly Child Care from the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute (CGBI) at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute promotes and delivers evidence-based, equitable, and inclusive lactation support. This includes The Carolina Breastfeeding Friendly Childcare Initiative, which provides training and resources to help ECE programs promote and encourage human milk feeding.
The federal Child and Adult Care Food (CACFP) program reimburses ECE programs for serving meals that meet the program’s nutritional standards. The office that administers the program in NC also provides helpful training and resources on early childhood nutrition, CACFP standards, and Farm to CACFP.
Go NAPSACC provides easy-to-use online tools to help ECE programs meet evidence-based practices in seven areas of health including nutrition, physical activity, and oral health. Go NAPSACC includes Be Active Kids, which provides training and resources to help ECE programs promote young children’s physical activity.
NLI helps create natural play and learning environments where all children and their families can thrive, learn healthy life habits, and set in motion a life course of peace and love for nature. This includes providing resources and design support for ECE programs.
The NC Farm to ECE Connections website provides a clearinghouse for Farm to ECE resources and a platform for local farmers and ECE programs to connect. ECE programs can find curricula, locate local farms, and connect to other state-specific resources such as the NC Farm to Preschool Network and Farm to CACFP.
Additional State Resources:
Eat Smart, Move More North Carolina
- Eat Smart, Move More NC is a statewide initiative that promotes increased opportunities for physical activity and healthy eating through policy and environmental change. Joining as a partner provides networking and educational opportunities.
- Through the NC Farm to ECE Initiative, the NC State Center for Environmental Farming Systems and its partner organizations work directly with early childhood facilities and their communities to purchase local food for meals and snacks and to provide children with experiential learning around local food.
- The North Carolina Farm to Preschool Network uplifts early childhood educators with inclusive resources, equitable opportunities, and diverse partnerships to spark connections between young children and the local foods movement. Resources can be found on their website and joining the network connects professionals interested in this work.
North Carolina Cooperative Extension
- The Cooperative Extension system translates research into action across the state. Offerings vary across counties. ECE programs may be able to find nutrition, gardening, and/or Farm to ECE support. Find your county Extension office here.
Recognizing ECE’s Advancing Children’s Healthy Habits (REACH)
- REACH recognizes ECE programs in North Carolina for meeting key evidence-based practices that support children’s health and healthy habits. See how ECE programs participating in Go NAPSACC can get recognized.
Additional National Resources:
- The CDC provides evidence-based practices, guidance, and resources on state and facility-level strategies to support early childhood healthy eating and physical activity.
- The Head Start Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECLKC) offers training resources for Child Care Health Consultants and home visitors as well as educational resources on positive feeding practices and environments for early educators and families.
- This Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program funds research and disseminates science-based recommendations for supporting healthy eating. Useful early childhood food, beverage, and feeding practice research summaries and tips for families and caregivers can be found at the link above.
- Through this project, NACCHO aims to improve local approaches to chest/breastfeeding protection, promotion, and support through continuity of care and infant and toddler nutrition security strategies. Look under Resources for culturally-responsive early childhood nutrition promotion materials in a number of languages.
Sesame Workshop: Physical Activity
- Sesame Workshop offers webinars, videos, handouts, and learning materials to use in the classroom and share with families.
- The USDA Team Nutrition website is a great resource for childcare-specific recipes, nutrition education resources, and guidance related to the Child and Adult Care Food Program.
WIC Infant Nutrition and Feeding Guide
- This handbook is designed for staff who provide nutrition education and counseling to the parents and caregivers of infants who participate in the WIC Program.