Early childhood nutrition is a necessity
“Did she really eat broccoli?” I can still picture the pleasantly surprised mom asking me that question when she picked up her daughter from my child care center.
And the answer was “yes.” Sitting at a little table watching her best friend munch on broccoli, the little girl gave it a try, and liked it.
We didn’t always perform broccoli miracles. Sometimes we simply gave children apple slices when they would have preferred cookies.
But, like other child care directors, I knew that we were playing a critical role in partnering with parents to help their child develop healthy habits and grow up at a healthy weight.
Some of those parents were able to feed their children nutritious food at home and wanted to make sure we were reinforcing their efforts. Other parents lived in neighborhoods considered “food deserts” and counted on us to provide healthy foods that were harder to serve at home.
Of course, when families were thinking about choosing our center for their children, even the most health-conscious parents rarely had the time or ability to closely analyze the nutritional content of our monthly menu.
Instead, busy parents who don’t have a degree in child development or nutrition count on state policymakers to put some basic standards in place. That’s why, for many years now, the state has set basic standards for nutrition and active play in child care. That lets families focus on choosing a center based on the criteria that are easier for them to evaluate, such as location, hours of operation, cost, the number of teachers in each class, recommendations from other parents, and, most importantly, if there is even an opening available.
Policymakers also provide that support to parents because research makes it increasingly clear that a child’s experiences during the first few years of life have a profound influence on her — and her state and community — for the rest of her life. When it comes to health, for example, children who are overweight or obese as preschoolers are five times more likely to be overweight or obese as adults.
And we all have plenty of work to do. About one in four children ages 2 to 5 is overweight or obese.
About one in four children ages 2 to 5 is overweight or obese. If we don’t get to work on this challenge, these children will face decades of health problems, and taxpayers will end up footing a lot of the bills.
If we don’t get to work on this challenge, these children will face decades of health problems, and taxpayers will end up footing a lot of the bills.
Unfortunately, during the recent legislative session, our state lawmakers missed a chance to address this challenge by passing Rep. Rick Miller’s HB 2664. The bill would have incentivized child care providers to follow best practices on child nutrition by giving those centers extra points in the state’s Texas Rising Star child care rating system. It also would have updated the state’s current guidelines for licensed or registered child care facilities, ensuring children gets nutritious food, avoid too much screen time, and have plenty of time to run, climb, and jump.
The bill fell short in a close vote on the Texas House floor. The good news is that it started a longneglected conversation about early childhood nutrition. With the session behind us, child care providers, public health leaders, legislators, state officials who work on child care, and other Texans need to come together to build on the ideas in HB 2664 and ensure that more young Texans have an opportunity to grow up healthy.
Kofron, a former child care center director, is executive director of the Texas Association for the Education of Young Children.