2015 Healthy Eating and Active Living Habits in Montgomery County Child Care Centers
The GetUp Healthy Child Care Award of Excellence Program saw great success in year two. On March 25, Public Health announced the winners of the 2015-2016 Award at the Readiness Summit sponsored by ReadySetSoar. The summit was attended by over 500 key community leaders. A total of 66 centers completed the assessment in 2015. Of those, 16 met the qualifications to receive the award, meaning they are meeting or exceeding the recommended best practice standards for young children in the areas of healthy eating, active living, and limited screen time. Over the past two years, a total of 94 centers have completed the assessment; and 32 have been awarded. Ten centers who applied in 2014 took the necessary steps to improve their 2015 score; and half of those met the award requirements in 2015. See their measured improvements in the table below:
Repeat Applicants from 2014 Child Care Center Site A Site B* Site C* Site D Site E* Site F Site G* Site H Site I Site J*
Percentage Increase 22.90% 5.90% 20.40% 16.90% 18.70% 10.50% 9.30% 23.80% 18.60% 15.10%
*Denotes 2015-2016 Award recipient
Success Stories: Site B is a large center, serving around 100 children. After receiving feedback on the 2014 assessment, the director sat down with the nutrition coordinator and worked to improve the menu to increase the amount of vegetables. They also now celebrate holidays with healthier options. Site C is a home child care center that has done a wonderful job of taking our feedback and applying healthy changes to the center. The provider has decreased the amount of fried or pre-fried foods she serves; increased the availability of water; and started an outdoor vegetable garden, which has been incorporated into the learning curriculum.
5-2-1-Almost None • Eat 5 Servings of Fruits and Vegetables • Spend Less than 2 Hours of Screen Time • 1 Hour of Physical Activity •
Drink Almost None of Those Sugary Sodas or Juice-flavored Drinks
Nutrition Education At least 2 times per year.... 19% offer training on child nutrition (other than food safety and food program guidelines) to staff 55% (33%)* offer child nutrition education (workshops and activities) to parents
Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County wishes to thank our Early Child Care partners for updating us on their use of the 5-2-1-AN strategies in 2015. Here are a few results: Beverages
Foods Outside Regular Meals and Snacks 31% never offer sweets or salty foods such as pastries, donuts, or chips 94% (67%)* celebrate holidays with mostly healthy foods and non-food treats
Healthy Eating Environment More than once per day.... 88% (68%)* of providers serve meals and snacks family style 79% of providers join children at the table for breakfast, lunch and dinner; talk informally about trying and enjoying healthy food 73% of providers consume the same foods and drinks as children, and avoid unhealthy foods in front of children *Denotes 2014 survey result
58% (51%)* always offer drinking water inside and outside 90% (83%)* never offer sugary drinks like Kool Aid, fruit drinks, or sweet tea 69% (56%)* always serve 1% or skim/non-fat milk to children ages 2 to 5
Menus and Variety Every week.... 52% include a combination of new and familiar foods on menus 32% have an outdoor vegetable garden
Fruits and Vegetables Between 2-3 times per week and 1 or more times per day.... 82% offer fresh fruits (not juice) and/or vegetables (not including French fries) 84% offer fruit that is fresh, frozen, dried, or canned in juice (not syrup) 83% offer a variety of vegetables (dark green, orange, and red) 74% prepare cooked vegetables without adding meat fat
Physical Activity Activity Play 60+ minutes per day 35% provide active play time (indoor and outdoor) to all children, including those with special needs
Play Environment
Provider Behaviors
52% (48%)* have outdoor play 75% often encourage children equipment that support multiple to be active and/or join in areas of skills used by children active play at the same time (children do not have to take turns)
Physical Activity Education 69% (32% )* offer staff training in child physical activity (in addition to playground safety)
81% (78%)* never withhold 2+ times per day 51% have multiple play areas, 64% (62%)* provide structured with open spaces for running and active play time for misbehavior activities to all children, including a track path for wheeled toys those with special needs
65% (63%)* offer parents child physical activity education
70% have ample space for 2+ times per day jumping, rolling, skipping, (total of 60+ minutes) and/or running 78% (63%)* provide outdoor active play time to all children, including those with special needs
92% (67%)* provide physical activity education for children through a standardized curriculum
52% (45%)* support physical activity in classrooms and common areas with posters, pictures, or books displayed in most to all rooms
*Denotes 2014 survey result
Policies 92% (78%)* have a written policy on nutrition and food services, available to parents at enrollment 65% have a written policy on physical activity addressing provider behaviors, education, and active play opportunities, available to parents at enrollment 43% have a written policy on screen time addressing the amount and type allowed, available to parents at enrollment
Thanks to our partners on this project!
Screen Time 62% limit screen time to 30 minutes per week or less 63% allow only commercialfree, age appropriate programming on TVs 74% limit computer time to 15 minutes per day, per child