No wonder that most Early Care & Education (ECE) staff want to learn more effective ways to encourage healthy eating in young children. Yet, only about 1/3 of licensed child care programs even have a nutrition policy.
Two scientists and two ECE professionals wrote a book on just this topic, Rethinking Nutrition, connecting the science of nutrition and child development with practical ideas for child care staff. Now the book has been turned into 4 two-hour, interactive, skill building workshops, suitable for training ECE professionals. These materials are free and easy for any workshop leader to use.
Specific topics include
- How children learn to prefer or dislike particular foods.
- How we can help them try and adopt new foods, especially fruits and vegetables.
- How to make mealtimes pleasant for everyone.
- How to avoid added sugars, and increase consumption of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
- How children learn to share, control their behavior, and even develop some of their pre-literacy skills at the meal table.
- How to develop a nutrition policy for an early care & education program, and why it’s a good idea to do so.
