August 2013: Question 2
Providing nutritious snack and meal options in the daycare setting is important to ensure children have the building blocks for growth and success, but most children enrolled in daycare still eat 1-2 meals at home each day. Considering that most Americans do not meet the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, what nutrition education programs might you design for parents to bridge the gaps between nutrition at home and nutrition at daycare, if your previous plan were implemented?
How would you address barriers such as time and resources, considering many parents of children in daycare have constraints on time and budget?
posted by Aria Drexler @ 9:37 PM
21 comments
21 Comments:
I would make a worksheet that would show how many servings of fruits and veggies a child needs and then have the care givers check off how much each child ate that day. The parents would have a daily count of what the child had and how much more is needed in the diet. I would let parents know what the veggie of the month was and if their child liked the veggie or not.
I would provide some easy recipes that the parents could make using the veggie of the month. I would include recipes using the veggie fresh and frozen because frozen can sometimes be cheaper than fresh.
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Since parents usually hang their child's colored pictures on their fridge at home, I would have the kids color MyPlate. Then, the parent could see it in their kitchen everyday. Also, the kids could have an activity of making an easy snack and then provide the parents with that recipe at the end of the day. Stickers could be used in a chart measuring how many servings of fruits and vegetables a child had that day and then be taken home for the parents to focus on. What child doesn't like stickers?! For the programs, the day care could have the children make informational videos to be sent home for the parents to watch. It would be hard as a parent to NOT watch their child's video.
Without reinventing the wheel, I would take current resources such as MyPlate and Ellyn Satter's division of responsibilities and make them more user friendly and have the children do activities that spell out the take home messages in a creative way. Along with the new vegetable a day activity, I would send home some info each day for parents on the vegetable we tried each day, recipes that utilize it in a child friendly way, and the importance of incorporating that particular vegetable into the child's diet. Parents tend to be more concerned with their child's health than their own so making sure they know to be good role models for their children to increase both the parents and the child's well-being.
Alyssa, I am interested to look into Ellyn Satter's philosophies more because I had not heard of her before you mentioned her. It looks like she developed a schedule of how to introduce foods to children in a way that promotes positive attitudes toward food, which I love. Thank you for mentioning that, I learned something new today. The Ellyn Satter Institute website is below, for others who are interested in learning more: http://ellynsatterinstitute.org/other/fdsatter.php
Carly, great idea! Coloring is a great way to promote learning in both kids and adults when the picture is hung on the fridge.
I also see the idea of keeping a chart or log with the new foods that each child tried that day, which is another great method of accountability for both parent and child. I think most parents probably wouldn't normally be aware of what their child is eating without the chart, and would probably be appreciative that they have that reference.
I think that I would create a weekly menu. The menu would have what was provided to the kids at each day and how much they ate. I would give the parents an informational sheet with how much children need of each food group by using the MyPlate. It is a useful and easy tool for people of all educational levels to understand. The parents would than know where their children are lacking nutritionally and what they need to work on at home. I would try to keep it fun and rewarding for the kid to eat their vegetables.
I like Carly's idea about using stickers for rewards. Kids will do most anything for a sticker!
Sarah Swanson said...
As most parents would not have time for a class or long presentation, I would create a brief but concise handout that would explain the importance of proper nutrition for children and the importance of each food group. I would include ideas for fast, inexpensive, and nutritious meals for them to prepare, and possibly incorporate MyPlate on there to give them a good idea of how to construct their plates.
Sarah Swanson said...
I like the idea of including a chart of what the kids are eating every day, since parents don't necessarily know this information. I also like the idea of having the kids color their own MyPlate. Great idea to get them more involved, understand the concept better, and be a good reminder for them at home.
Day care providers are also much like parents because they have little time and a small budget to create meals for children. Therefore, they are always looking for healthy, fast recipes at a low cost. I would provide recipes, costed out per serving for the parents. This way, if a child likes the food from day care, the parent can make it at home and see that it is not expensive to make.
I would create some sort of game to make healthy eating fun. It could be something like trying a new vegetable at home and sharing with everyone what it was like. There would be a prize for the most vegetables tried or widest variety of vegetables.
I like the idea of a guide to take home for the parents to reference. It is always nice to have that reminder of just how much fruits and vegetables should be eaten a day. I also like Carly's idea of having the child color it so that it hangs on the refrigerator in plain sight.
I think one way to bridge this gap is to make it a year-long assignment. At the beginning of the year, I would explain to the parents what the assignment is and provide some handouts about fruits and vegetables, servings per day, and MyPlate. Twice per month a student would say what new vegetable they tried and draw on Myplate a meal they had that followed MyPlate suggestions. In this way, both the kids and parents learn about what a healthy meal contains, and since the child wouldn't be presenting every time, it allows the parents to give the assignment their full attention without feeling overwhelmed by what it is asking from them.
I like Courtney's ideas of providing recipes, and Alyssa's take-home info about what the new vegetable the child tried that day and info about it.
I think educating the parents along with the children would be the best method. In addition to adding the vegetables to dishes they already enjoy and introducing new vegetables to the children, I would send home more detailed information with the parents with ideas of how to incorporate more vegetables as well as the benefits of providing nutritious meals to their children. Included in the take home material would be cost effective tips to overcome the barriers mentioned.
I agree with everyone that take-home materials would be the most logical way of teaching due to the time constraints of families. I like Courtney's idea of the game at HOME to try the most fruits and veggies. That way everyone can be involved.
I think it would be important to show parents what their children are eating while at daycare. It would be good to send children home each week with a tally of what they ate during that week. This could be very eye opening for parents. Many just assume their children will not like things, so this could show them what new things to offer their children. I also think it would be helpful to send home a recipe each week that features the vegetable of the week. It would be important to make sure the recipe was quick and did not require a lot of ingredients to make it more feasible for parents.
I like some of the suggested ideas to use MyPlate as an education tool. Most parents are probably not aware of MyPlate. Having children understand it and be able to educate their parents would be even better.
Through collaboration with the teaching staff, I would encourage that any "hands-on" project created in the classroom be sent home with the students so that the parents might see how f/v consumption is being encouraged in the classroom. I would also try to provide parents with a little informational blurb about the importance of f/v consumption outside the classroom on the periodic menu.
Sarah & Courtney, you have a good point about keeping things concise and to the point. Time is such a valuable commodity these days that it is important to keep the information short and the impact high. MyPlate is a great resource that is concise and has impact. I still remember learning about the food pyramid in class when I was in 3rd grade, obviously the format changes over time, but the information usually stays with kids.
Emily, great idea with the year-long assignment. That relates more to health being a life-long activity, since eating is what we do every day. I like the idea of a vegetable club, if any of you remember scholastic book club from school, it was a fun way to interest kids in reading and the veggie club could be similar. The prize could be something related to health or fitness, like a bike helmet or a skateboard, or something with more value the more points or stickers the kids have.
Lynetta, I like that you are focused on reaching the day-care staff. If they show an interest in and care about healthy eating, the kids pick up on this as they would their parents at home. Having the continuity between day care and home is important in establishing healthy habits.
Sarah Swanson had a great idea sending veggie recipes home for the parents. As a parent, I would be more willing to try something new if I knew my kids have already tried it and liked it. Also, any quick and easy recipe will be a huge help for busy parents.
Carly had a great idea to use a sticker system. That would allow not only the parents to see their child's nutritional progress but the children themselves as well.
I also like Alyssa's idea of using current resources. One thing I have learned in my rotations so far is to make good use of what I have available rather than "reinventing the wheel" as Alyssa mentioned.
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