Multisector Approach to Improve Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Policies and Practices in Early Care and Education Programs: The National Early Care and Education Learning Collaboratives Project, 2013–2017 

Garvin, T.M., Weissenburger-Moser Boyd, L., Chiappone, A., Blaser, C., Story, M., Gertel-Rosenberg, A., Shuell, J., Chang, D., Ward, D., Plumlee, C., Beets, M., and Yaroch, A.L. Preventing Chronic Disease (July 2019). 

Background: Children begin building healthy eating and physical activity habits early in life, making early care and education (ECE) settings a promising place to promote best practices in nutrition and physical activity. The National Early Care and Education Learning Collaborative Project (ECELC) brought an intensive training, technical assistance and peer learning program to child care programs in ten states over five years. This study looks at how effective that program was in improving best practices in child care. 

Child Care Aware of Kansas (CCAKS) is the statewide administrator of the Child Care Resource and Referral network in Kansas. As a managing state agency we are proud to serve 105 counties, ranging from frontier to urban populations, alongside our partnering agencies: Child Start, The Family Conservancy and Child Care Aware of Eastern Kansas. Our aim is to ensure families across Kansas have access to affordable high-quality child care, support professional development for early learning staff and advocate for positive changes to impact the lives of children and families. Our partnership with Vroom has given us the opportunity to strengthen our initiatives by supporting early learning and engagement for families, providers and communities.

What's Vroom?

Vroom provides interactive tools and resources that highlight the science behind early brain development, showing parents how they can turn everyday activities like bath time and meal time into opportunities that build their children’s brains. The Vroom Partnership at Child Care Aware^® of America is made up of Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies who educate and provide Vroom resources to families, providers, and organizations in their communities so they too understand the importance of brain development during the first five years of life. Learn more about Vroom here.

Since 1985, The Children’s Cabinet’s mission has been to keep children safe and families together by providing services and resources that address unmet needs through a unique and effective cooperative effort between the private sector and public agencies in Nevada. By offering a wide range of community programs, the goal of the agency’s founders was to create a lasting public/private partnership to address the needs of children and their families in our community.

Being a Vroom Ambassador has been beneficial to our staff, child care providers and parents as well as to our 50 plus community partners who are also sharing Vroom messaging and materials with their clients.  

What's Vroom?

Vroom provides interactive tools and resources that highlight the science behind early brain development, showing parents how they can turn everyday activities like bath time and meal time into opportunities that build their children’s brains. The Vroom Partnership at Child Care Aware^® of America is made up of Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies who educate and provide Vroom resources to families, providers, and organizations in their communities so they too understand the importance of brain development during the first five years of life. Learn more about Vroom here.

This Monday, September 16, The New York Times ran an op-ed highlighting the importance of rational inclusion and exclusion policies for sick children in early childhood education settings. We at Child Care Aware® of America are excited that this important issue is getting attention, and thank the Times for underscoring the ramifications of inclusion and exclusion policies that are overly cautious and require children to see a doctor for many minor illnesses that do not warrant a doctor’s office visit.

The problem: Many child care programs serve families whose native language is different than the provider’s. Communication on routine matters can be problematic, so how can providers share information with families on more complicated issues like early brain development or toxic stress?

For many families across the country, their little ones are going to school for the first time. Whether starting a brand new routine after being cared for in a home-based setting or if care was provided in a child care center, going to “big-kid school” is a big deal!

It is a lot of change and some of the changes can have an impact on a child’s health, for instance, the amount of active play time and the kind of meals being served.