Preventing Obesity in Young Children: Strategies for Promoting Healthy Eating, Exercise and Parent Involvement

1. Preventing Obesity in Young Children: Strategies for Promoting Healthy Eating, Exercise and Parent Involvement

2. Based on… Prevention of Overweight and Obesity In Infants and Toddlers: An Interview with Dr. Rachel Téllez Medical Advisor to the Head Start Bureau http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc

3. KENTUCKY HEAD STARTTRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCEACF REGION IV HEAD START

4. KY Head Start T/TA Staff • Christine Killen KY Head Start T/TA Manager • Joyce Roach KY Head Start Infant/Toddler & Education Specialist • Allyson Taylor KY Head Start Mental Health & Disabilities Specialist

5. You may wonder: • Why are doctors and scientists troubled by this trend? • What steps can we take to help prevent obesity in our children?

6. Worrisome Statistics… According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), 2008: • US: 1 in 7 children ages 2-4 is obese • US: 21.6% of low income preschoolers are obese • KY: 15.7% of low income preschoolers are obese

7. KY Department for Public Health… • 37% of KY children ages 10-17 are overweight compared to 32% nationwide.

8. KY Voices for Health… • KY has one of the highest prevalence’s for pediatric obesity in the nation. • 48% increase since 2002 in children ages 0-4 who are overweight or obese.

9. What is BMI? • Body mass index (BMI) is a practical measure used to determine overweight and obesity. • easy to obtain the height and weight measurements needed to calculate BMI

10. Defining Overweight and Obesity in Children • Overweight: BMI at or above the 85th percentile and lower than the 95th percentile. • Obesity: BMI at or above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex.

11. CDC Growth Charts and BMI Calculatorhttp://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/defining.html

12. Barriers to Having a Healthy Lifestyle

13. Parents working more than one job

14. Lack of access to and high cost of fresh fruit and vegetables. 

15. Parent and Family Involvement “What is my responsibility?”

16. How can EHS and HS staff and caregivers promote healthy eating and exercise for infants and toddlers?A Tip Sheet

17. Rules of Thumb for Eating Healthy: • Breastfed infants have shown lower obesity rates in later childhood. • Serve fresh fruit and water instead of juice; if juice is served only 4-6 oz. per day is recommended. • Offer healthy-sized portions; the size of a young child’s fist is an appropriate portion size for that child.

18. Tip Sheet (con.)… • Plan ahead so that healthy snacks such as cheerios, fresh fruit and vegetables are part of the young child’s daily meals.  For example, vegetables can be cut up over the weekend to make vegetable soup, add to spaghetti sauce or to quesadillas.

19. Tip Sheet (con.)… • Eat at the kitchen table and not in front of the television.  It is easy to lose track of what young children are eating and the amount. • Have planned mealtimes with young children; serve family style meals.

20. Tips… • Parents and teachers decide when infants and toddlers eat, and what they will be offered.  A young child decides if she will eat and how much.  However, sometimes young children might not be hungry.  It is important for infants and especially toddlers to eat until they satisfy their hunger, but not to eat beyond hungry.  Parents and teachers jobs are to recognize hunger cues in the infant and toddler to help the young child begin to recognize these cues in herself.  The “Clean Plate Club” is now obsolete as well as the belief that the “larger the baby, the healthier.”

21. Tips…. • Plan adequate time for structured and unstructured physical activities for children ages birth to two; 30 minutes of structured, and 60 minutes of unstructured physical activity are recommended for children ages 1 and up.  Toddlers should have no more than 60 minutes of sedentary activity.

22. Infancy is not too early… • Physical movement adds muscle tone and strength

23. Modeling can not be underestimated

24. Are there physical activities appropriate for infants and toddlers that can be used early on to promote interest in exercise as development progress?

25. The Bright Futures in Practice-Physical Activity (2001) manual also has great ideas for physical activity and movement for young children. http://www.brightfutures.org/physicalactivity/

26. Parent Education Activity

27. Education in nutrition is also an excellent starting point for adult education and literacy goals as follows: • Reading Nutrition Fact labels • Knowledge of measurement and metric conversion are essential math skills; • Questions on nutrition and/or the digestive system are often topics on the GED test; and • Some GED tests have chemistry questions based on the pH of certain foods and common household cleaners.

28. Food Traditions Easy Menu Ethnic Cookbooks, published by Lerner Publications Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota

29. Where to Get More Information • http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov • Child and Teen BMI (Body Mass Index) CalculatorWorried about your child's weight? For children, BMI is used to screen for overweight, but is not a diagnostic tool. For more, see About BMI for Children and Teens. • Childhood OverweightThis Web site provides information about childhood overweight, including how overweight is defined for children, the prevalence of overweight, the factors associated with overweight, and the related health consequences. • Defining Childhood Overweight and Obesity • Obesity Prevalence • Contributing Factors • Consequences

30. More Information… • Physical Activity for EveryoneProvides information about physical activity for you and your children. • FruitsandVeggiesMatter.govGreat recipes and information about how to incorporate fruits and vegetables in your daily meals. • How to Avoid Portion Size PitfallsConfused about portion sizes? Play the CDC's portion control game!

31. Still more info… • MyPyramid.govProvides a tailored explanation of how to balance your meals and includes an interactive game for kids. • We Can! This national education program is designed for parents and caregivers to help children 8-13 years old stay at a healthy weight. The booklet "Finding the Balance: A Parent Resources" offers an array of easy to use practical tips and tools for parents and guardians to help their children and families eat healthy, increase physical activity, and decrease screen time.

32. Yes….there’s more For Kids ONLY • BAM! Body and MindHave fun, stay active and healthy. • My Pyramid Blast Off GameLearn what it takes to blast off in the food pyramid space shuttle! • Powerful Girls Powerful BonesCheck out Carla and her friends. • Power Panther…to the Rescue!Eat smart, play hard. • VERBHey! It's what you do.

33. Additional Training WIC Fit Activity Kit Webinar: January 11th IMIL Training: Tentative KHSA April Allyson.taylor@stginternational.com

34. Questions…

35. Thank You! Please let us know what worked well, and suggestions for improvement. Your suggestions for improvements help us to make our sessions responsive to your needs.