While children spend a substantial amount of time in school, more than half of kids aged 5 to 14 years are also spending time in a child-care setting. This is also an important out-of-home setting for preschool-aged children. This research brief outlines federal food programs and regulations that govern nutrition and physical activity in child-care settings—and what research has demonstrated about the nutritional quality of foods offered in child-care settings.
Age Groups: Adults and Families, Elementary-age children (grades K to 5), Preschool-age children (ages 3 to 5), Young adolescents (grades 6 to 8)
Keywords: Body mass index (BMI), Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), Child Care/Preschool, Food service, Fruits and vegetables, Head Start, Media, Nutrition standards, Physical activity, Snacks, Sugar-sweetened beverages
Focus Area: Early Childhood
Resource Type: Research Review
Related Research
February 2025
Consumption of the Food Groups with the Revised Benefits in the New WIC Food Package: A Scoping Review
On 18 April 2024, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) published the first food package changes to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in over a decade, which reduced some food benefits (juice, milk, canned fish, and infant fruits and vegetables) and offered substitutes (cash-value vouchers (CVVs) or cash-value MoreJanuary 2025
A Systematic Review: The Impact of COVID-19 Policy Flexibilities on SNAP and WIC Programmatic Outcomes
The objective of this study was to explore the impact of policy flexibilities deployed during the COVID-19 public health emergency on access, enrollment/retention, benefit utilization, and perceptions of SNAP and WIC. The review identified 37 eligible articles. Twelve studies evaluated policy flexibilities in SNAP only, 21 in WIC only, and 4 in both programs. Across MoreDecember 2024