Focus Area: Early Childhood

Early Care and Education Policies and Programs to Support Healthy Eating and Physical Activity: Best Practices and Changes Over Time. Research Review: 2010-2016

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Over the last six years, efforts to strengthen policies, systems, and environments to promote health and prevent obesity have become more robust and widespread. These efforts include updates to federal policies and programs, state regulations, local policies, and evidence-based guidance. The goal of the current research review is to provide the most up-to-date information on More

Getting Children to Eat a Variety of Healthy Foods Starts Early in Life

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Childhood is an especially important time to promote the acceptance of healthier foods given the oversaturation of unhealthy modern food environments, poor diet quality in young children, and the high prevalence of nutrition-related diseases in many nations. This issue brief is based on a narrative review, published in Obesity Reviews, on how children learn food preferences during More

Promoting Healthy Food Preferences From the Start: A Narrative Review of Food Preference Learning From the Prenatal Period Through Early Childhood

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Childhood is an especially important time to promote the acceptance of healthier foods given the oversaturation of unhealthy modern food environments, poor diet quality in young children, and the high prevalence of nutrition-related diseases in many nations. This review relies on a search of the literature from 2007 to 2016 on how children learn food More

State Variations in Infant Feeding Regulations for Child Care

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This cross-sectional study reviewed infant feeding regulations for all U.S. states for child care centers and family child care homes, then compared the regulations with ten national standards and also assessed the number of new regulations consistent with these standards since a previous review conducted in 2008. The 2008 review found that the majority of More

Interventions to Prevent Global Childhood Overweight and Obesity: A Systematic Review

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In this systematic review, investigators expand on previous reviews of obesity prevention interventions by including recent studies from all parts of the world. School-based interventions with combined diet and physical activity components and a home element had greatest effectiveness; evidence in support of the effect of preschool-based, community-based, and home-based interventions was limited by a More

What Can Be Learned from Existing Investigations of Weight-Related Practices and Policies with the Potential to Impact Disparities in US Child-Care Settings? A Narrative Review and Call for Surveillance and Evaluation Efforts.

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Child-care settings and the combination of policies and regulations under which they operate may reduce or perpetuate disparities in weight-related health, depending on the environmental supports they provide for healthy eating and physical activity. The objectives of this review are to summarize research on state and local policies relevant to weight-related health equity among young children More

Updated Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation (EPAO) Tool

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The Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation (EPAO) is a tool designed to evaluate practices, environmental attributes, and policies of early care and education settings that influence children’s nutrition, physical activity, and sedentary environments. The tool has been updated to assess all current best practices in Go NAP SACC. The EPAO has been expanded to More

Stress in Early Life and Childhood Obesity Risk

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The association between stress in early life and obesity and overweight in adulthood is well established. There is also increasing evidence of a link between stress exposure in childhood (or in utero) and child and adolescent obesity. Major sources of early life stress include adverse childhood experiences (e.g., abuse), poverty, food insecurity, and poor relationships More

Mapping the Food Policy Environment in Minnesota Child Care

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Child care providers are a vital part of healthy, thriving communities. Over half of children between the ages of zero and five spend significant time in non-parental child care. These early years are critical for healthy brain development and establishing the habits that last a lifetime. Laws and policies shape how we think of “quality” More