What's New?
(latest update: July 26, 2010)

Preventing Childhood Obesity in Early Care and Education Programs!

Just released ‑‑‑ Preventing Childhood Obesity in Early Care and Education Programs, is the new set of national standards describing evidence-based best practices in nutrition, physical activity, and screen time for early care and education programs. The standards are for ALL types of early care and education settings ‑ centers and family child care homes. These updated standards will be a part of the new comprehensive Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards; Guidelines for Early Care and Education Programs, Third Edition (CFOC, 3rd Ed.) to be released in 2011.

Preventing Childhood Obesity in Early Care and Education Programs contains practical intervention strategies to prevent excessive weight gain in young children. The standards detail opportunities for providers to work with families beginning on day one of an infant's enrollment.

• General Nutrition Requirements
• Meal and Snack Patterns
• Requirements for Infants including supporting breastfeeding
• Requirements for Toddlers and Preschoolers
• Meal Service and Supervision
• Food Brought from Home
• Nutrition Education
• Active Opportunities for Physical Activity
• Outdoor and Indoor Play Time
• Caregivers/Teachers' Encouragement of Physical Activity
• Screen Time Limits
• Policies on Infant Feeding, Food and Nutrition Services, and Physical Activity

The CFOC standards are developed through a public-private partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Public Health Association, the National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). Funding for the pre-released selected standards was provided by the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Child Care Bureau.

Available for download at http://nrckids.org/CFOC3/PDFVersion/preventing_obesity.pdf

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Welcome to the National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care (NRC)

The National Resource Center is located at the University of Colorado Denver in Denver, Colorado, and is funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration. The NRC's primary mission is to promote health and safety in out-of-home child care settings throughout the nation.

The standard resource for information concerning this subject is the Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards Guidelines for Out-of-Home Child Care Programs, Second Edition published in January 2002. The guidelines were developed through the collaborative efforts of the American Public Health Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau. The entire text of this publication is available on this website.

Each state manages licensure of child care settings in different ways. The licensure regulations from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands are also available on this Website. The NRC updates this database as changes are made.