Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #113056

Kineret Piltch Shakow, EdD, A Better Start, Albert Einstein Medical Center, 5501 Old York Road, Lifter 1, Philadelphia, PA 19141, 215-456-4926, shakowk@einstein.edu

Obesity is among the easiest medical conditions to recognize, but among the most difficult to treat. Because an individual's eating habits - their likes and dislikes--develop at a very young age, establishing good nutrition habits early is critical for healthy physical and mental development. FUN (Families Understanding Nutrition) addresses the nutritional and physical needs of pre-school children. FUN is a hands-on experiential nutrition program that targets working poor households with children age 3-5. The program is offered at more than 20 local daycare centers and targets all families with pre-school children who use the Pediatric Clinic at Albert Einstein Medical Center, located in Northwest Philadelphia. Although the focus of FUN is on pre-school children, we view the children as a conduit to the entire family, who benefit from the information we provide. We will discuss the development and implementation of the FUN program, the role health educators play in fostering healthy nutrition in young children and their families, as well as the impact of FUN on the programming at the daycare centers, and the lessons learned by the children and their families

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• Recognize the value of providing nutrition education at a young age.
• Identify strategies for integrating nutrition education into pre-school programs
• Identify lessons learned by children and their caregivers.
• Implement the FUN program in their community

Keywords: Children, Nutrition

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation