Right From The Start: Assessing Child Care Settings for Obestiy Prevention

Childhood obesity is one of the most pressing health concerns in Oregon. Many efforts to address childhood obesity are targeted at schools and school-aged children, but increasingly children arrive at primary school with poor nutrition and physical activity habits that contribute to overweight and obesity. Public health authorities have cited child care as a key setting in which to address the problem. Child care providers and their settings could play a critical role in helping to establish good health habits for life and prevent childhood obesity. In order to better understand child care's important role in obesity prevention, CHP:Oregon's Public Health Institute is conducting a survey-based assessment of child care settings in Multnomah County, Oregon over the course of two years. Child care settings are being assessed on four topic areas of obesity prevention: nutrition, breastfeeding, physical activity, and screen time. The purpose of the survey is to highlight models of good practice in child care, identify training and resources needs of child care providers, and inform new policy initiatives. The results of this assessment from the largest county in Oregon will serve as a pilot to inform a state-wide assessment of child care. Preliminary survey results will be presented in the context of the assessment project's broader efforts to work with existing partners and build a coalition of child health experts working toward obestiy prevention in pre-school-aged Oregon children.