Resource Library

Tools and Resources

The following tools and resources can help states, Early Care and Education (ECE) leaders, and public health practitioners promote good nutrition and physical activity in the ECE setting.

• Quick Start Action Guide for State Efforts [PDF-549KB] and Spectrum of Opportunities [PDF-665KB]
  These materials guide users through the Spectrum of Opportunities framework and provides action steps to plan or strengthen state-level efforts in obesity prevention.
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  Helping Young Children Thrive: Healthy Practices in the Early Care and Education Setting
  Infographic depicts why and how CDC is helping children enrolled in ECE settings adopt healthy eating and physical activity habits.

• Fact sheets include tips and examples that ECE centers and homes can follow to meet national standards for supporting breastfeeding, storing breastmilk, and introducing solid foods.
  • Supporting Breastfeeding Families in ECE [PDF-881KB]
  • Storage, Handling, and Preparing of Breastmilk in ECE [PDF-564KB]
  • Solid Foods in ECE [PDF-758KB]
  • Breastfeeding and Early Care and Education (ECE) [PDF-329KB]
• Healthy Kids, Healthy Future on-demand modules in English and Spanish
  Modules provide practical strategies for implementing best practices in early childhood settings for promoting healthy weight in young children.
• Increasing Access to Drinking Water and Other Healthier Beverages in ECE Settings [PDF-3.68MB]
  This guide explains why ECE settings should serve water to children and how to do it. It also describes how providing water fits in with serving other beverages. In addition, the guide includes information on how those participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) can remain in compliance with CACFP regulations in their efforts to serve water.
• CDC Early Care and Education Portal
  Tools and resources to help implement many early childhood health and safety standards included in Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards and other key federal programs.
• Caring for Our Children National Guidelines for Obesity Prevention Standards in ECE
  Set of national standards describes evidence-based best practices in nutrition, physical activity, and screen time for early care and education programs.
• Institute of Medicine reports:
  • Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Policies
    This document reviews factors related to overweight and obese children from birth to age 5, with a focus on nutrition, physical activity, and sedentary behavior, and recommends policies that can alter children’s environments to promote the maintenance of healthy weight.
  • Child and Adult Care Food Program: Aligning Dietary Guidance for All
    This book assesses the nutritional needs of the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) population based on Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) and makes recommendations for revisions to the CACFP meal requirements. The book outlines meal requirements that include food specifications that could be used for specific meals and across a full day, covering all age groups from infants to older adults and meal patterns designed for use in a variety of settings, including in-home care and in large centers.

• National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Childhood Education Reports
  • Achieving a State of Healthy Weight 2022 Report
    • Achieving a State of Healthy Weight 2022 Supplement: Child Care Centers
    • Achieving a State of Healthy Weight 2022 Supplement: Large Family Child Care Homes
    • Achieving a State of Healthy Weight 2022 Supplement: Small Family Child Care Homes
• Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care (Go NAP SACC)
  Easy-to-use online tools to build healthy eating and physical activity habits in children.
• National Farm to Early Care and Education
  Website to help ECE programs and schools enrich community connections with fresh, healthy food and local food producers by changing food purchasing and education practices.

Success Stories

State-level

• Hawai’i Gathers Information About Early Child Care by Using a Carbon-Copy Survey
• Michigan Early Child Care: Improving Nutrition and Physical Activity Standards 
• New Mexico Early Care and Education Centers Create Lasting Wellness Changes 
• North Dakota Department of Health Makes Healthy Living Easier for Young Children 
• Ohio Health Department Makes Healthy Food Choices Easier for Ohio Children 
• Alaska Child Care Workgroup Addresses Childhood Obesity 
• Healthy Kids Healthy Future: State Examples and Success Stories

Local-level

• Wood County, Wisconsin, Childcare Providers Remove Breastfeeding Barriers 
• Child Care Sites in York County, Maine, Move Toward Better Health 
• Making Health Easier: Healthy Changes Start in Preschool – Los Angeles, CA (English)
  
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• Hacer Hábitos Saludables Más Fácile n Guarderias Infantiles – Los Angeles, CA (Spanish)
  
  Low Resolution Video