New Resources for Parents and Providers on Healthy Drinks for Young Kids

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Ensuring that young children are drinking the right beverages is an important part of making sure that children are getting the healthiest start in life. In 2019, Healthy Eating Research brought together key national health and nutrition organizations to release a consensus statement on healthy beverages for young children ages 0-5 years old. Since then, we have developed new resources to help caregivers and professionals implement these recommendations.

The new resources for professionals include a resource to easily compare the beverage recommendations to other beverage guidelines for young kids, and a provider toolkit developed in partnership with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The toolkit is particularly exciting, as it includes free CPEUs for Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs) and Nutrition and Dietetic Technicians, Registered (NDTRs), as well as educational resources and tools for nutrition professionals. This is a great opportunity for professionals to earn continuing education credits while learning about healthy beverages for young children and how to implement the expert panel recommendations in patient and client settings.

Our other new resources include guides for providers and caregivers to choose the right plant-based milk alternatives for their kids. We have fact sheets for parents on all of the beverage types featured in our guidelines, and have added a factsheet on breastfeeding.

In addition to these new materials, there are many other resources available for parents, caregivers, and professionals at HealthyDrinksHealthyKids.org. Promoting healthy habits for kids is essential, and choosing the right beverages is a crucial part of that. Please share and take advantage of these new resources!

NEW Resources:

For Providers

For Caregivers