Nutrition Education

Nutrition Education and Physical Activity

Children’s Hunger Alliance educates and engages children and their caregivers in making or providing healthy food choices and promoting regular physical activity so that children can establish healthy habits at a young age.

While more than 1 in 5 Ohio children live with hunger, more than 1 in 10 preschoolers and nearly 2 in 10 school-age children struggle with obesity due to poor nutrition and lack of exercise. Food insecurity and obesity can co-exist in part due to lack of access to healthy and affordable food and fewer opportunities for physical activity. Our Educate team provides programming at afterschool and summer programs and childcare centers to help children make healthy food choices and engage them in physical activity through evidence-based curriculum.

Our team also works in designating in-home childcare providers and childcare centers in Ohio Healthy Programs (OHP), to create healthier environments for children in early care settings. OHP ensures providers offer children in their care more variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, at least 1 whole grain daily, no sugar sweetened beverages and more. Training emphasizes healthy eating and is geared toward reducing childhood obesity.

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Eat Play Grow

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Children’s Hunger Alliance works with centers to offer the proven EatPlayGrow™ programming so children can establish healthy habits at a young age.  Developed by the Children’s Museum of Manhattan in cooperation with the National Institutes of Health, the 11-week EatPlayGrow program uses fun, hands-on activities to teach children ages 6 and younger to make healthy choices about nutrition and physical activity. The program includes storytelling, art-making, music and movement activities to teach children how nutrition, physical activity and sleep affect their health. Children’s Hunger Alliance has registered dietitians on its Nutrition and Physical Education team who lead the weekly classes at the Childcare Center.  The program is offered once per week over the course of 11 weeks and our Nutrition Education team members bring everything needed for each lesson: a healthy snack, art supplies, lesson plans and creative ideas to engage the children. Childcare Centers simply provide the space and time to complete the program.

CATCH Kids Club

The Coordinated Approach to Childhood Health (CATCH) nutrition and physical education curriculum is designed to promote healthful behaviors in school-aged children and reduce their subsequent risk of cardiovascular disease. The program consists of 10 lessons focusing on nutrition education and non-competitive physical activity for elementary and middle school-aged children. Each hour-long program engages kids in crafts, games, and physical activity all while learning about healthy habits and having fun. Lessons are offered at both afterschool and summer programs.

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Ohio Healthy Programs

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Children’s Hunger Alliance works with childcare centers and family childcare providers to create healthier environments for the children in their care through Ohio Healthy Programs training curriculum. Ohio Healthy Programs is designed to prevent childhood overweight and obesity by promoting healthy weight and growth in all children ages birth to five years old.

The training curriculum consists of 8 hours of online self- paced trainings where childcare providers learn about menu guidelines, policy making, family engagement, and more. Children’s Hunger Alliance provides technical assistance to review menus and establish at least one new healthy policy for the home or center. Providers and centers also receive resource kits to help promote and reinforce healthy environments and practices. At the conclusion of training providers submit an application through the Ohio Child Care Resource and Referral Agency demonstrating that their program is compliance with all OHP guidelines to receive the 2-year Ohio Healthy Program designation.

COOKING CARAVAN

Here is a series of short videos that can lead to a discussion with children around the importance of healthy eating and learning to put together simple meals.

Cooking Caravan
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