– Food and Play Policy
To influence other adults to adopt a division of responsibility for eating and active play in their homes and classrooms, you must first control your own attitudes.
Strong policies help leaders show teachers and parents how to have greater positive influence on children’s health. Such policies guide adult behaviors, showing them what to do and what not to do, to support healthy eating and active play.
Strong policies help create child-serving environments where children find it easy to make healthy eating and active play choices. Healthy choices abound, unhealthy temptations are limited, and health messages are intentional, clear, and consistent.
Strong policies help teachers, children, and their families develop healthy habits!
Part 1: Use Research-Based Promising Practices to Guide Policy Development/Improvement
Read at least three contemporary research articles (at least one from the list below) to gather ideas to develop or improve an existing food and active play policy for a specific program.
Describe and critique the articles for their validity and relevance to your selected child-serving program.
Identify key research findings to incorporate into a policy to promote healthy eating and active play.
Part 2: Develop a Policy to Promote Healthy Eating and Active Living
Describe a specific child-serving program: child-care (infant/toddler, pre-school, after-school, etc.), educational (formal UPK, primary, elementary, middle, or, high-school or non-formal out-of-school time program such as after-school, scouting, 4-H, drop-in centers, etc.), or recreational (out-of-school time, enrichment, resident or day camp, etc.)
Include the type, size, and ages of children along with other factors that may support or challenge children’s ability to develop healthy habits.
Develop a food and active play policy for the program you selected. Include:
principles of excellence and/or promising practices as identified within the research articles you critiqued
guidelines that are specific and measurable (SMART) so that teachers fully understand and act of program excellence expectations
guidelines about foods brought from home
support for families to learn, teach, and reinforce healthy behaviors at home
For specific grading criteria for this assignment, please consult the evaluation rubric.
Choose one article from list below, and find other scholarly articles that are relevant to your selected program needs. (All links open in a new window.)
Anzman-Frasca, S., Newman, M. B., Angstrom, H. M., Sharma, S., Nelson, M. E., Dolan, P. R., & Economos, C. D. Parent perspectives on nutrition and physical activity during out-of-school time. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 46(3), 156–163.
Bellows, L., & Anderson, J. The food friends get movin’ with mighty moves: a physical activity program for preschoolers. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior,45(5), 473–475.
Bellows, L., Spaeth, A., Lee, V., & Anderson, J. Exploring the use of storybooks to reach mothers of preschoolers with nutrition and physical activity messages. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior,45(4), 362–367.
Henderson, Karla A.; Saltmarsh, Amy. (2012, March/April). Make a Commitment: Encouraging Wellness and Healthy Living at Camp. Camping Magazine. Retrieved from https://www.acacamps.org/campmag/
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