Using Policy and Collaborations to Promote Nutrition and Physical Activity in Early Childhood: Massa

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Using Policy and Collaborations to Promote
Nutrition and Physical Activity in Early
Childhood Massachusetts and Delaware
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• Harvard Prevention Research Center
• Funded by Centers for Disease Control and
  Prevention
• Director Steven L. Gortmaker, PhD
• Mission work with community partners to design,
  implement, and evaluate programs that
  improvenutrition and physical activity, reduce
  overweight and reduce chronic disease risk among
  children and youth.

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2001 MA PEDNSS Data
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• Massachusetts and Harvard Prevention Research
  Center
• 2001- Approached Office of Child Care Services
• Physical Activity Regulations
• Television Viewing Regulations

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Physical Activity Recommendations Children
must be provided with the opportunity for a total
of at least 30 minutes of active play per day.
The total amount of time may be divided into
smaller timeframes since children play in
intervals but it should total at least 30 minutes.
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• TV Viewing Recommendations
• Limit television viewing and entertainment
  computer and video game usage to the occasional
  supervised rainy day activity (i.e. 1-2 times per
  month during extreme weather situations) with
  parental input on the programs viewed and games
  played.

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• Massachusetts
• Family Care Providers
• July 2004, must offer 30 minutes of PA daily
• Child Care Centers and After-school Providers
• Regulations in Progress
• 30 min. of PA required in programs operating ½
  day or less
• 60 min. of PA required in programs operating more
  than ½ day

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• Collaborators
• Office of Child Care Services
• Harvard Prevention Research Center
• MA Department of Education Child and Adult Food
  Care Program

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H.E.A.L.T.H.Y. Kids

• Train-the-trainer model through childcare
  resource and referral agency (CCRR)
• Trainings focus on
• Role modeling and the childcare environment
• Adapting PA and Nutrition programs to providers
  unique child care setting (infants to elementary
  school setting)

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Boston ABCD Head Start
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• Starting Young Pilot Project
• Utilizes peer education approach to improve
  healthy lifestyle behaviors in Head Start Centers
  and Families
• Improve center environment
• Improve staff behavior
• Improve parent behavior
• Create positive collaborations between medical
  community/WIC/Head Start
• Ultimately, help children

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• Infrastructure
• Office of Child Care Services
• MA Dept. of Education CACFP program
• Dept. of Public Health/WIC
• Childrens Museum of Boston
• Boston Steps
• Harvard Prevention Research Center
• Boston ABCD Head Start

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• Delaware
• Nemours Health and Prevention Services
• Overweight Prevention
• Primary Care
• Early Childhood
• Schools
• Community
• Emotional Wellness

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Prevalence of overweight and risk for
overweight Nemours Pediatrics Primary Care
Patients (N23,927 children seen in 2002)
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• Applying Lessons Learned
• What do you want to do?
• Who works with your childcare providers?
• How can you meet the needs of your collaborators?
• What can be done to build work into the
  infrastructure?
• How can you evaluate your success?

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• What do you want to do?
• Change policy to promote nutrition and physical
  activity
• Provide support for policy

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• Who works with your childcare providers?
• Licensing
• Education/Training
• Parents
• State Programs
• Technical Asst. and Support

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• Meeting the Needs of Our Collaborators
• Office of Child Care Licensing
• Dept. of Education
• Div. of Public Health/WIC
• Child and Adult Care Food Program
• Community Colleges, Universities, Vo Tech
  Schools, etc.

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• Making this Simple for Child Care Providers
• Needs Assessment
• Work with current programs and systems familiar
  to child care
• Connect program to standards and child
  development

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• Current Questions
• How can we build this into the infrastructure?
• What does this program look like?
• How should we evaluate this?

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Promoting nutrition and physical activity
policies and programs for child care providers is
doable.
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Elizabeth Walkeremwalker_at_nemours.org302-444-918
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