Nutrition in Licensed Child Care SettingsJuly 14, 2008 |
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 While pharmaceutical solutions are now being used to combat issues linked to childhood obesity — last week the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that children as young as 8 years old should use cholesterol lowering drugs in some circumstances — researchers in Los Angeles County are looking for potential behavioral causes and effective responses. Recently, California Food Policy Advocates, Public Health Foundation Enterprises - WIC, and the Child Care Food Program Roundtable convened a stakeholders meeting to discuss research findings from their study entitled An Assessment of the Nutrition Environment in Los Angeles County Licensed Child Care. The research was funded by the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation.This project conducted observations of the foods and beverages served in 54 licensed Child Care settings throughout L.A. County to assemble a snapshot of what children are consuming while in licensed child care settings. As almost 40 percent (350,000) of the children aged 0-5 spend at least a portion of their day in child care, the data, observations and stakeholder interviews in the study are intended to assist policymakers in understanding the opportunities to positively influence young children's consumption habits. "Local leaders have an enormous opportunity, actually a responsibility, to ensure children develop appropriate dietary habits," said Matt Sharp, an advocate at California Food Policy Advocates and one of the study leads. "The information gathered in this project is the first step towards designing comprehensive, preventive policies to protect children from the early onset of overweight and obesity. By the time they reach elementary school, many children's taste preferences and eating habits are already set, so child care and preschool providers are the first line of defense against this devastating epidemic." Because licensed child care settings vary greatly, researchers sought to randomly choose the participating child care sites. Of the seven categories created, four were receiving funds from a government entitlement program — the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) — which has specific guidelines about what types of foods must be served in order for the provider to receive reimbursement. Findings included: food brought from home was of poorer nutritional quality than food provided by centers; most children are served milk; very few are served water during the lunch meal. Also, only 22 percent were served whole grains, but most children did receive a serving of a fruit or vegetable. The nutritional rating scale developed by the project sponsors identified significant variations in the nutritional quality of food served in the 54 centers. Recommendations on how to use this data are forthcoming. Additionally, the project partners will complete a much larger statewide review of menus from child care homes and centers this fall. |
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