Including the child care setting when promoting healthy communities, minds and bodies

“Healthy Communities” that “Promote Healthy Minds & Bodies” must address all environments where children spend their time -- including child care and preschools -- if they are to be truly healthy. Research increasingly shows that the first years of a child's life are critical to shaping their future health and development. Children are especially vulnerable to harmful substances in their environment. Unhealthy environments are linked to both acute health effects (asthma episodes, headaches, sneezing) and chronic health effects (asthma, learning disabilities, some cancers). Sixty percent of U.S. preschoolers are in child care and the choices made by their care provider can have a major impact on their current and future health. Yet comprehensive pediatric environmental health considerations are not yet routinely incorporated into the operations of child care facilities, nor into the training and certification of child care professionals in the United States. Licensing of child care facilities does not assure that environmental health is addressed. No state child care licensing standards address all of the environmental health toxics commonly found in child care settings. When surveyed, child care professionals express interest in providing healthier environments and in resources to help them do so. Several interventions to assist child care providers in improving the environmental health of the child care setting, each taking a different approach, are underway. This session will provide an overview of these programs and resources available for child care health consultants and other MCH professionals in these interventions.