Early Childhood - Connecticut State Department of Education

Nutrition And Health Chapter 11
NUTRITION GOALS
Nutrition education is an essential component of early
childhood education because nutrition influences how
well children grow, develop and learn. Early childhood
settings present ideal opportunities for teaching children
about food, nutrition and lifelong habits for good
health. Nutrition education from an early age can help
children learn to make healthy food choices, resulting
in:
• consumption of a balanced diet;
• achievement of optimal growth and intellectual
development;
• increased physical performance;
• maintenance of healthy weight; and
• decreased risk of nutrition-related diseases.
Connecticut’s Preschool Curriculum Framework
(1999) recommends that all children practice appropriate
eating habits by the end of preschool. To accomplish
this goal, classroom experiences should ensure that preschool
children recognize and eat a variety of nutritious
foods. Early childhood teachers will encourage healthy
lifestyles by helping children learn the skills for healthy
eating, providing opportunities to practice these skills,
and by making nutrition fun. Effective nutrition education
has the following characteristics for curriculum and
content areas.
Curriculum:
• connects ideas and information to prior
knowledge;
• ensures that the child is actively involved in
the experience and not just a bystander; and
• uses ideas that spring from the child’s questions.
(More information on appropriate curriculum planning can
be found in Chapter 2.)
Content:
• teaches children the relationship between
food and health;
• helps children understand their growing
bodies and how to take care of themselves
through healthy behaviors;
• exposes children to a variety of learning experiences
about where food comes from and
how it can be prepared; and
• helps children develop sound attitudes
and knowledge about food, nutrition and
health.
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Developing a plan for nutrition education is key
to success. This plan should include opportunities for
children to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to
make appropriate food choices. It is most effective when
the plan is the shared responsibility of all preschool staff
members, teachers, administrators and food service personnel.
This plan should:
• introduce children to new food and eating
experiences;
• provide food- and health-related learning
activities that can be connected to experiences
the child has at home; and
• encourage children to talk with their families
about their food experiences in childcare.
For preschoolers, nutrition education can be
organized around three basic nutrition concepts: food
keeps me healthy, food gives me energy and food helps
me grow. Nutrition activities should be based on these
concepts and provide concrete experiences such as
exposure to new healthy foods and building skills in
choosing healthy foods. The ultimate goal is behavioral.
Preschoolers can easily begin to understand basic
health concepts. But while children may know that fruits
and vegetables make them healthy, they must actually
eat fruits and vegetables to obtain health benefits.
Nutrition education should reflect a variety of
cultural and ethnic foods and practices, including everyday
customs, traditions and celebrations. Serving
dishes from different cultures broadens children’s food
experiences and helps teach children about new foods.
Children are more likely to relate to the concepts being
taught when food experiences include familiar foods
and customs.
Preschool nutrition education activities should
be designed to achieve the following outcomes for
young children:
Educational/Attitudinal
Behavioral
• Tries new foods
• Enjoys a variety of healthy foods
• Enjoys active play
• Gradually increases variety of foods eaten
• Eats healthy foods
• Participates in active play
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