Whether you work with schools or other child care organizations, starting something new or building up an existing program, Below are some valuable links to references & resources sure to guide you to some best practices sure to improve nutrition & nutrition environments for the children you care for and serve:
USDA Team Nutrition Best Practices Report
This report provides detailed information about six Team Nutrition educational materials including those aimed at child care centers as well as schools.
www.k12.wa.us/childnutrition/pubdocs/TeamNutritionBestPractices.pdf
No Kid Hungry Share Our Strength Center
The No Kid Hungry Share Our Strength Center for Best Practices offers a list that summarizes funding opportunities for organizations operating child nutrition programs including School Breakfast Program (SBP), Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), and the At-Risk Afterschool Meals Program.
http://bestpractices.nokidhungry.org/child-nutrition-program-grant-opportunities
Eat Smart. Play Hard.
The Eat Smart. Play Hard.TM Campaign was launched by USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to encourage and teach children, parents, and caregivers to eat healthy and be physically active every day. Eat Smart. Play Hard.TM offers resources and tools to convey and reinforce healthy eating and lifestyle behaviors that are consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the MyPyramid Food Guidance System. Eat Smart. Play Hard.TM is about making America's children healthier. It's about practical suggestions that will help you motivate children and their caregivers to eat healthy and be active. Eat Smart. Play Hard.TM Campaign messages and materials are fun for children and informative for caregivers. http://teamnutrition.usda.gov/Resources/eatsmartmaterials.html
Grow It, Try it, Like it!
Grow It, Try It, Like It! Preschool Fun with Fruits and Vegetables is a garden-themed nutrition education kit for child care center staff that introduces children to: three fruits - peaches, strawberries, and cantaloupe, and three vegetables - spinach, sweet potatoes, and crookneck squash.
http://teamnutrition.usda.gov/Resources/growit.html
Changing the Scene - Improving the School Nutrition Environment is a tool kit that addresses the entire school nutrition environment from a commitment to nutrition and physical activity, pleasant eating experiences, quality school meals, other healthy food options, nutrition education and marketing the issue to the public. This kit can help local people take action to improve their school's nutrition environment. The kit includes a variety of tools for use at the local level to raise awareness and address school environment issues that influence students' eating and physical activity practices. FNS developed the kit with input from 16 education, nutrition and health organizations. These groups and their logos are listed on the kit as collaborators.
http://teamnutrition.usda.gov/Resources/changing.html
HealthierUS School Challenge (HUSSC)
Schools that achieve the award offer opportunities for nutrition education, physical education and physical activity while bringing their menus in line with the 2005 DGAs.
www.fns.usda.gov/tn/healthierus/index.html
Additional Team Nutrition resources are available http://teamnutrition.usda.gov/library.html
Sprouting Healthy Kids
The Sustainable Food Center, which promotes healthy food choices, partnered with six middle schools in Austin, Texas, to implement Sprouting Healthy Kids. The pilot project was designed to increase children's knowledge of the food system, their consumption of fruits and vegetables and their access to local farm produce.
www.rwjf.org/files/research/57334.final.pdf
www.aap.org
Fuel Up to Play 60
Fuel Up to Play 60 is a school-based program developed by The National Football League, National Dairy Council, and your local Dairy Councils. Fuel Up to Play 60 helps students eat healthy and stay active by empowering them to make smart choices about their nutrition and physical activity.
www.fueluptoplay60.com/
www.thegrhf.org
www.beahealthyhero.org
Supporting Healthy Food and Activity Environments
www.preventioninstitute.org/component/taxonomy/term/list/84/127.html
Strategic Alliance ENACT Environments
eatbettermovemore.org/sa/enact/members/index.php
NAPSACC - The Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care Program
www.center-trt.org/index.cfm?fa=opinterventions.intervention&intervention=napsacc&page=intent
Other Obesity Prevention
A complete list of interventions and programs is on the left side of the page.
www.center-trt.org/index.cfm?fa=op.overview
Maintaining a Healthy Weight
www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/wecan/tools-resources/index.htm
Changing Environments to Prevent Obesity
www.dshs.state.tx.us/obesity/GrowingCommunity/default.shtm
Strategies to Support Healthy Choices
www.cdc.gov/obesity/downloads/community_strategies_guide.pdf