Child care’s role in fight against obesity
Medical Xpress | Daniel P. Jones And Beth Krane | 9 October 2015
Policy changes are needed to address childhood obesity in child care settings and help child care providers to reinforce healthy eating and physical activity, according to new research from the University of Connecticut.
In six studies published today in a special section of the journal Childhood Obesity, titled “Wellness Promotion in Child Care: Evidence to Action,” the UConn researchers offer a variety of recommendations to improve child care policies and practices in order to curb childhood obesity.
Because many young children spend more time in child-care settings than any other place except home, child care is an important opportunity to influence young children’s diets and physical activity.
“The findings from these studies inform how out-of-home child care providers can work together with families to reinforce healthy eating and physical activity,” says Marlene Schwartz, a professor of human development and family studies who is an author on two of the studies and director of the UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity.
