Legislating nutrition and exercise in child cares? Yes? No?
One urbanMama wrote in wondering what others think about the Oregonian's article yesterday on nutrition and exercise in child care settings. Did you see it? I did and it made me simultaneously appreciate and cringe about the food at our child care center, from the tater tot casserole (boo) to the organic milk (yay), from the fruit loops in the sensory table (yowza) to the whole wheat flour they're now using (progress!). Oh, and the unsweetened soy milk they recently switched to.
But legislate it? Our center used to participate in the UDSA food subsidy program for child care centers, and from what I understood (admittedly from the sidelines), compliance was a b#$%#. We've talked before about the quantity of outside time in childcare settings, but this is a little closer to home.
What do you think? Is this the help our child care system needs? I, for one, can think of some other items to at least add to the list, like 1) affordability, 2) location, 3) quality, and 4) availability. From the article:
With children joining the ranks of the overweight and obese before they're old enough to recite the alphabet, public health and child advocates say it's time working parents across Oregon wonder whether day cares should shoulder some of the responsibility.
Closer regulation could be on its way. A statewide obesity prevention task force has recommended that the upcoming Legislature require state agencies to study child care and develop minimum standards for physical activity, healthy foods and time in front of a screen.
New food and activity rules will undoubtedly raise some hackles. Is it necessary to mandate play for rambunctious toddlers? Reasonable to expect low-paid caregivers to persuade children to eat their vegetables when most parents can't pull it off at home? And, really, aren't toddlers supposed to be a little chubby?
Thanks, K, for asking what everyone thinks.
It's a great idea for child care centers to provide healthy foods but I'm not so sure our government should step in and mandate it.
Posted by: Jessica | January 06, 2009 at 10:39 AM
I'd be happier to have the elementary schools really crack down on all the defects and leave the little guys alone.
If they could fix the ailments for 1-8 grades (ages 5-14) we wouldn't have to worry so much about ages 0-5.
Or am I off-base?
Posted by: carie | January 06, 2009 at 11:49 AM
I might be in the minority here but I completely support this. That doesn't mean I don't agree with everything written above but I don't think it has to be one instead of the other. All of these issues need to be addressed. This is coming from a mom who's preschool provider uses Organic Fresh Fingers - only $1.80 per meal! I think my kid eats better than I do. When I was in grade school/high school the only options we had were hot lunch and the salad bar. Now they have companies like Pizza Hut IN SCHOOLS serving lunch. I find that outrageous!!! It's just a means for the schools to make more money from brands because of budget shortfalls. It makes me sick. If we can make it happen at the preschool level, maybe we'll get lucky and the public school system will be next. I'm also all for mandated time for physical activity. Looking forward to reading what other urbanmamas have to say.
Posted by: Virginia | January 06, 2009 at 12:13 PM
I completely agree with Carie. When I saw this article in the newspaper, I immediately thought of the nutrition and excercise problem at the elementary level. If we are going to mandate anything and make it stick, try dictating two recesses and PE everyday in K-8 (credit crunch may prohibit this in high school).
To me, this is more about talk than revision. If legislative bodies and school boards cannot get their ducks in a row within the public schools, how do they ever think they can mandate and oversee this in all the private and public daycares and preschools???
Mandate the changes in public schools and then fund the programs fully. You would not have to have exploratory meetings and program discussions: Hire PE teachers, nutritionists, and cooks.
Posted by: lauralye | January 06, 2009 at 12:15 PM
I think this is a great idea! How could teaching kids (at any age) about good nutrition and exercise be a negative thing at all? YES, it does need to be continued and supported at the elementary, middle and high school levels--but starting early can only help and allow kids to enter school with exposure to these important concepts. Unfortunately/fortunately in the US, sometimes legislation is the only way to make things happen across the board.
Posted by: km | January 06, 2009 at 12:31 PM
Leave government out of it! Who would pay for the government oversight? Did you know our national debt is already at $36K per household? We can't sustains ourselves like this.
Posted by: KE | January 06, 2009 at 12:47 PM
Seems to me that government mandates have made ketchup a vegetable and juice a fruit. Not so sure I think this would lead to much better.
Posted by: mom22 | January 06, 2009 at 01:07 PM
The Federal government already recommends at least 1 hour of physical activity for kids. This should be the minimum standard for childcare AND Elementary school. Children should not be allowed( childcare) or forced (elementary school) to sit for hours on end! I don't know why we need to study this problem - what we need to do is fix it!
Posted by: pdxmomto2 | January 06, 2009 at 01:28 PM
It's easy to mandate change in preschools/childcares because most are privately owned, small businesses and they are used to complying with state mandates/inspections. (OK, so I'm being a little cynical) However, I wonder how real the change will be, given that current rules don't allow more than 2 hours of TV per day and in a recent round of childcare interviews I could see that that limit is generally overlooked. We can legislate change but if parents don't "vote with their dollar" change won't happen. As parents we need to communicate to childcare providers that we expect vegetables/healthy foods to be provided, that not only do we turn the TV off at home but we expect it to be off at childcare & that we expect our children to spend time outdoors while at childcare as well as taking them to the park/on walks when we're with them. I know how hard it is since I'm a working mom who used to do childcare, but it's up to us!
Posted by: capella | January 06, 2009 at 02:33 PM
KE,
We also cannot "sustain ourselves" if we don't look at the health of our children/future generations. Why are we one of the richest nations with one of the worst childhood obesity rates? I feel we are not looking at/funding/solving this serious issue, in ways that could better the health of us all. Families, too, can all benefit from information about this-starting early can only help.
Posted by: MK | January 06, 2009 at 02:58 PM
I'm a little skeptical of what actual implementation of these regulations might look like in individual centers.
By way of example, when I was touring day care facilities and state-registered in home care places for my then 8-month-old son, one in home care provider showed me a 3x5 foot gated off area and said that this area was required by the state, as a way to provide a "safe" space for babies to be, when combined with older children in mixed-age care settings.
So, following state mandates, my son's "safe" play space would have been a 3x5 foot space on the floor, gated off from all the other kids.
Hmmm . . . I find myself agreeing with mom22 that "government mandates have made ketchup a vegetable and juice a fruit."
Posted by: SJ | January 06, 2009 at 03:19 PM
I agree with what Carie & others have noted. It makes more sense to address nutrition and more physical activity in school-aged kids. It's eye-opening to see the lack of physical activity at the elementary school level, or at least it's the case in our school. Better nutrition and incorporating more physical activity into the day not only would help obesity rates, but could improve concentration and focus. I wonder when and if and when this would ever be incorporated into schools across Portland, rather than a handful of schools whose administration actually "get it". Just another thing to consider when you're shopping around for schools.
Posted by: Sarah | January 06, 2009 at 08:50 PM
Sehr gute Seite. Ich habe es zu den Favoriten.
Posted by: mietwagen | March 12, 2009 at 03:59 PM