Early childhood programs have a key role in cultivating healthy eating habits in children. Whether it’s a childcare center, family child care or day care homes, Head Start Programs, or afterschool programs, these early childhood systems do a lot in helping children receive well-balanced meals and do physical activities that promote health and wellness.

Through these programs, children learn the importance of having a well-balanced meal mainly consisting of fresh fruits and vegetables. These children may come from food insecure families who face the hard choice of choosing cheaper food items which may not be as healthy but helps fight off hunger.

If children encounter healthy food and meals early on and learn to engage in physical activities, they are energized to participate more and are less likely to be become obese.

But early childhood programs are not alone in this endeavor. Federal programs such as the Child and Adult Care Program, Child Care and Development Block Grant, and Thrifty Food Plan provide grants to various programs so they can provide nutritious meals for the children in their care.

In this blog, we’ll list down these federal programs that help childcare providers in teaching children about nutrition and physical activity.

Reimbursements from Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP)

The CACFP is a federal nutrition program that gives reimbursements to childcare providers who provide their enrolled children with nutritious meals and snacks. This helps childcare providers give holistic care and nourishment to children without adding to their operational costs.
Aside from reimbursements, the program also provides key information on healthy foods ranging from ounce equivalents of grains to milk and even smoothies.
This nutrition program is open for both public and private childcare providers under almost all provider types.

Supplemental funding from Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG)

This grant provides supplemental funding to Head Start and Early Head Start programs all over the country in the hope that the grant will trickle down to low income families serviced by these programs.
The supplemental funding helped ensure that these families continue to receive the services they need such as meals and pre-k services for their children.

Training through National Early Childhood Collaboratives (NECCC) Program

Aside from giving childcare providers access to reimbursements and supplemental fundings to help them provide nutritious meals and snacks to children in their care, childcare providers would also benefit a lot from receiving in-depth training about nutrition, physical activity, and its roles in reducing obesity in children.
Through this program childcare providers are in much better position, armed with the knowledge on how they can best support children to grow and develop healthily and prevent the incidence of obesity. The program employs “evidence-based, practice-tested learning collaboratives” that help childcare providers encourage children to practice healthy eating and do more physical activities.

These are just some of the key federal programs and joint initiatives that help childcare providers give children a more holistic care. By providing children fresh food and giving them a safe space to move more, young children are given a very healthy headstart in life.