Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Not really. We’ll give you information about lower-cost options. And we’ll teach you how to make portion sizes smaller (which means less food wasted and less money down the drain). Plus, many healthy options cost the same as the not-so-healthy choices. Learn more about Healthy Menu Planning.

When fresh fruits and veggies are in season they can be pretty inexpensive — and can actually be about the same price as frozen or canned. Frozen and canned fruits and vegetables are great, too — they’re still packed with plenty of nutritional punch. See more examples of Healthy Shopping Tips.

Physical activity doesn’t have to be thought of as a separate, added activity. Try incorporating exercise into other activities during the school day or into your day-to-day routines. A good example: Have the children act out a story as it’s being read to them. See more examples on how to Get Kids Moving.

• Check out the Healthy Habits for Life Resource Kit (from Sesame Workshop, Nemours, and Nemours’ KidsHealth.org) for fun, easy ideas for weaving physical activity into your classroom curriculum using Sesame Street characters to help reinforce positive habits.

When it comes down to it, you’re not demanding that parents make changes at home — just providing them with information about what you’re doing (and what they could do, too) to give their children the very best chance at a healthy future. Improving nutrition and physical activity standards in your center or home opens up a real opportunity to start a conversation with families.

Emphasize that you want to partner with them to help their kids grow and develop as they should during child care and at home. Have ongoing open dialogue to specifically address concerns, provide accurate information, and offer ways for families to get involved. Show families how powerful they are as food providers and role models who can instill healthy habits that last a lifetime.

To keep families in the loop (and feeling included) and engage them as partners in their child’s healthy development:

• Have parent-caregiver meetings.
• Share recipes and brochures.
• Post information, letters, brochures, ideas, and websites on bulletin boards in the classrooms and pick-up/drop-off areas.
• Show the kids engaged in healthy behaviors (through daily or weekly reports, pictures of the children). 
• Give parents pamphlets and activity sheets about experiences the kids had at your center that families could reinforce at home.
• Invite families to participate in special events that involve them in healthy eating and physical activity with their kids.
• Send home specific lists of other options to bring in for birthday and holiday celebrations instead of cakes and cupcakes: fruit, vegetable platters, whole grain crackers, reduced-fat cheese, or non-food items like developmentally appropriate party favors.

Aim for empowering parents. Help them understand the tools offered to help them support healthy eating and physical activity at home. Build from the essential fact that most parents want what’s best for their children. Emphasize that nobody alone can support healthy development of children. It takes all of us, working together, to help kids grow up healthy.

The good news is most children won’t even notice small changes in their diet. Be prepared — children might reject some new-to-them foods as many as 20 times before accepting them.

But the more you keep offering the new, healthy options, the more likely they’ll be to eventually accept them. To help make transitioning to healthier alternatives a little easier (on you and the youngsters), see Make Nutrition Fun.

Support from your staff is absolutely key — positive changes won’t happen without it. So help them feel like they can make a difference. That they’re role models and can be champions for healthy choices.

Share with them all of the reasons they should join in.

• Why Should I Participate?

Educate classroom teachers and assistants about the importance of healthy eating and appropriate physical activity — that’s just as crucial as educating them about teaching children literacy, math skills, science, and social studies. In fact, activities that support learning about healthy eating and incorporate physical activity can be incorporated into most curriculum subjects.

• See all of our Ideas & Resources.
  

Involve teachers in planning and implementing nutrition and physical activity changes — like purchasing of food, switching curriculum, educating children, or other ways. Emphasize that kids who are active tend to be more attentive and better-behaved. Before you know it, they’ll see the value in what you’re trying to do and you’ll have the buy-in from your staff that you need to succeed.