Issues Related to Nutrition and Fitness

Childhood obesity has been on the rise in the country according to surveys conducted by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey this is why it’s important now more than ever before to make sure we do everything we can to help bring these numbers down. There are a number of reasons why childhood obesity is so important:

·         Children who are obese are at a greater risk for health related issues such as heart disease.

·         Obese children are more inclined to social discrimination.

·         Obese children are at risk to having sleep apnea.

·         Asthma is another health risk related to childhood obesity.

·         Type 2 diabetes has also been linked to childhood obesity.

There are three skills that are important for childhood development; fine motor skills, locomotive skills and gross motor skills (Goodway). These skills are important because they help children develop skills they need like tying their shoes, playing catch and things like skipping rope and playing basketball. Physical activity can help them master these skills by allowing them to practice and work on using certain muscles and body parts.

Adults can make a huge impact on the way children eat and the amount of physical activity they receive. One thing they can do is to limit the amount of “idle” time they have playing video games and watching television.  Two activities adults can do to help children get the physical activity they need is playing hop scotch; this way they can work on their gross motor skills and their numbers at the same time. Another activity children can do is make necklaces out of manipulative shapes; helping them work on fine motor skills or grasping and shapes.

“Individuals responsible for the well-being of preschoolers should be aware of the importance of physical activity and facilitate the child’s movement skills” (National Association for Sport and Physical Education).

This statement is so true often times teachers get raped up in the academic impact they make on children and forget to realize how physical activities can impact childhood development and health. This impact can be carried on until adulthood and if children are not taught to eat healthy and excise they can and will be at risk for health and developmental problems in the future.

                                                References

 Goodway, J. D., & Robinson, L. E. (2006, March). SKIPing toward an active start: Promoting physical activity in preschoolers. Beyond the Journal: Young Children on the Web. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200605/GoodwayBTJ.pdf

Schilling, T., & McOmber, K. A. (2006, May). Tots in action on and beyond the playground. Beyond the Journal: Young Children on the Web. Retrieved from the Walden Library using this link:  http://proquest.umi.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/pqdweb?did=1038789361&sid=1&Fmt=4&clientId=70192&RQT=309&VName=PQD

National Association for Sport and Physical Education. (2006, May). Active start: Physical activity guidelines for children birth to five years. Beyond the Journal: Young Children on the Web. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200605/NASPEGuidelinesBTJ.pdf

Nutrition and Children

                Good nutrition and eating habits are good at all ages but it is especially important for toddlers to have good eating habits because at this age they are just learning about different food choices and their developing body needs certain foods to do so.

                Preschoolers should have good nutrition and eating habits because at this stage of life they enjoy trying and learning new things and they are more willing to do so. So this would be a great time to reinforce healthy eating habits or introduce them to healthy eating habits (Robertson, Cathie 2010, 2007).

Children at the school age level require healthy and nutritious eating habits because they require more energy throughout the day. Another reason why school age children require good eating habits is so they can help fight off certain infections and help prepare their bodies for a growth spurt (Robertson, Cathie 2010, 2007).

                Adults and caregivers should help children develop healthy eating habits because the way they eat now can have a long lasting effect on them later in life. Children also need good eating habits because their bodies are developing and they need healthy food to do so.

                One way adults can help children with healthy eating is by leading by example, if children see the adults in their life eating healthy they will be more inclined to so as well. Another way adults can foster healthy eating is by letting children help with meal planning and food prep so that the child could get an understanding on what foods are healthy and good for them.

                Listed below are two recipes that can be made with young children and they are very healthy.  Some ways to make cooking fun and healthy is to let children be a part of the shopping process and food selection. Another way to make cooking enjoyable is by reading books about different foods and trying out the recipes.

Prep time: about 1 to 2 hours
Ingredients:

       1 8-oz. container of your favorite flavor of yogurt

Utensils:

       small paper cups

       wooden popsicle sticks (available in craft stores)

       plastic wrap

Directions:

1.    Pour yogurt into paper cups. Fill them almost to the top.

2.    Stretch a small piece of plastic wrap across the top of each cup.

3.    Using the popsicle stick, poke a hole in the plastic wrap. Stand the stick straight up in the center of the cup.

4.    Put the cups in the freezer until the yogurt is frozen solid.

5.    Remove the plastic wrap, peel away the paper cup, and eat your pop!

Serves: 3 to 4

Serving size: 1 pop

Nutritional analysis (per serving):
127 calories
5 g protein
2 g fat
21 g carbohydrate
0 g fiber
7 mg cholesterol
73 mg sodium
262 mg calcium
0 mg iron

Prep time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

       1 apple

       1 banana

       1/3 c. red seedless grapes

       1/3 c. green seedless grapes

       2/3 cup pineapple chunks

       1 cup nonfat yogurt

       ¼ c. dried coconut, shredded 

Utensils:

       knife (you'll need help from your adult assistant)

       2 wooden skewer sticks

       large plate

Directions:

1.    Prepare the fruit by washing the grapes, washing the apples and cutting them into small squares, peeling the bananas and cutting them into chunks, and cutting the pineapple into chunks, if it's fresh. Put the fruit onto a large plate. 

2.    Spread coconut onto another large plate.

3.    Slide pieces of fruit onto the skewer and design your own kabob by putting as much or as little of whatever fruit you want! Do this until the stick is almost covered from end to end.

4.    Hold your kabob at the ends and roll it in the yogurt, so the fruit gets covered. Then roll it in the coconut.

5.    Repeat these steps with another skewer.

Serves: 4

Serving size: 1 kabob

Nutritional analysis (per serving):
141 calories
3 g fat
28 g carbohydrate
3 g fat
1 mg cholesterol
2 g saturated fat
52 mg sodium
103 mg calcium
0.5 mg iron
3 g fiber

References

http://kidshealth.org/kid/recipes/index.html

Robertson, Cathie 2010, 2007 Safety, Nutrition, and Health in Early Education (4th ed.)

               

               

Illness Prevention and Emergencies

                                                                                CPR and Choking Emergencies

A CPR emergency is something every childcare facility should be prepared to handle because it is something that cannot be predicted. In this scenario will be discussing what should be done in the event of a choking emergency.

There is 4 year old preschool student appears to be choking on a piece of food; because he is coughing, the teacher encourages him to keep coughing because that means he is still breathing . The teacher tells her aide to take the class next door to another teacher and call 911. After the teacher takes the children to another classroom and calls 911 she calls the child’s parents and notifies them of the situation.  While the aide is taking care of her orders the teacher starts performing the proper techniques to remove food from a choking victim’s mouth.

With a situation such as this one, advanced planning is the key to saving the child’s life. Without the proper knowledge of CPR and 1^st aide the child may not make until the emergency services arrive. It is also important to keep in mind that if you have not been professionally trained in CPR you should attempt to perform it because you can possibly make matters worse. 

In order to prepare for a scenario like this a childcare facility should make sure they have the following items on hand; emergency phone list, emergency contact information for each child and a plan in place so everyone knows there role.

The next scenario involves the same 3 year old preschool student; however a few things have changed because the child has stopped breathing and has stopped coughing. The teacher follows the same procedures and asks her aide to take the children to another teacher’s room, call 911 and then notify the parents. While the aid is taking care of removing the class and making phone calls the teacher starts to perform CPR on the child until he regains consciousness or until the paramedics arrive. 

As mentioned before it is imperative that the staff is properly trained in CPR and First aid and that they remain calm.   A situation such as the one mentioned above can turn into something worse if the rest of the class is in an uproar. As previously mention a emergency phone list, parent emergency contact information and a plan came help to make this situation a little easier to manage.

Health Promotion and Crisis Planning

 Emergency Preparedness: Natural and Human-Generated Disasters

Living in Buffalo New York one natural disaster that might put my center at risk would have to be would be snow storms. They can develop quickly without enough time to get everyone home like the store we had back in October 2006. During this storm power was lost to a large amount of the city and communication was very difficult. Preparing for a natural disaster like this at the center we would first need the plan for alternative communication if land lines were not an option. We might have to rely on cell phones, mass text message, email and maybe even news messages like the ones that scroll along the bottom of the television in case of emergency closings. Another thing we would need to prepare for is making sure we had enough extra food in case we were snowed inside the building for a few days. Alternate emergency contact information for the families as well as first aid kits is something that would be needed. Most importantly we would need to make sure we had extra blankets, as mention earlier to power went out in many areas and some people didn’t have heat, lights, etc.

Not being prepared for something like this could make a bad situation worse, one thing that parents could to help prepare their children for something like being snowed in and away for their parents is to talk to them and let them know that everything will be okay and to maybe think of it like a big sleep over with their classmates.

Another disaster that could happen in our building in a fire; we share a building with VA housing and a least once a month someone burns something and we have to leave the building because of a small fire that set of the alarm system. So far we have never had a fire that caused any direct harm of danger to the daycare but we have a system in place just in case it ever happens. All the classrooms has an emergency bag with all the parents contact information, blankets, first aid kits and flash lights. When we first evacuate we all meet in the back of the building, but if there is ever a serious fire or bad weather we all meet across the street at a subway station until we are cleared to go back in or the parents need to come pick up their children.

I think we have a pretty good system in place as far as the fire disaster is concerned but the only thing that makes me a little nervous about being snowed in is the fact that the weather is so cold and I’m not sure how comfortable we would be able to keep the children if it’s cold, dark and they miss their parents. 

Safety in Early Childhood Environments

The age group I will be using for my focus is the infant age group, the reason I choose this group is because children at this age group have many potential hazardous that adults may not be aware of because of the difference in eye level. There are so many things infants can get into on the floor rather they are mobile or immobile. 

The first potential hazard I would like to mention is one in which will be or a risk for your children who can’t yet hold their own bottle; this hazard is bottle propping. Some people think its okay to prop a baby’s if they are trying to multitask. People who do this is unaware of the risk associated with doing this, a child could choke in the bottle and the care taker may be unaware because they’re busy trying to do other things. Care takers should take the time to properly feed an infant and insure they are eating and are safe from choking on their food.  This can be carried over into the home sometimes parents can busy trying to take care of other children without the assistance of an aid but communication of the dangers of bottle propping could but given to parents to insure their children are safe while eating.

The second risk I would like to talk about is eating things off the floor; children in this age group are not old enough to know it the items on the group are eatable or not. Even if they find food on the floor it can be a hazard because of the germs that may have gotten on it. Care takers should make sure they try to keep the floor is kept as clean as possible with putting the children at risk with cleaning products, and make sure they keep an eye on what the children are doing on the floor at all times. One way this can be down is by doing a scan of the floor before the children arrive at the program. One way to keep the children safe at home is to also make sure the parents clean or scan the floor before putting the children down.

Electrical sockets are another major hazard that requires a proactive approach. Children may be curious to know what the little plastic things are in the wall and be tempted to try and take them out or even worst they might try to stick something in the socket. Another hazard with the plug protectors is the children can choke on them if they find them lying around or figure out how to take them out. One way to protect the children from getting access to the plugs is by installing socket protectors that can’t be removed without tools. This is a very important hazard that parents need to be made aware of at home and needs to be done before the children are mobile.

Furniture is a hazard that might not seem like a big deal but if there is a piece of classroom furniture with a sharp edge this can be dangerous for children who are just learning how to walk or pull themselves up onto things. Classroom and home deco should be inspected to insure they don’t pose a risk for young children. Tables, toy/book shelves, etc should all be safe and secure to make sure things will not falls down on a child if they try to use it to balance.

The last hazard I will talk about for this age group is cords that might be attached to blinds, toys or electronics. Children may be curious to pull on it and see what’s on the other end and might get tangled up in it. To make sure these items are not a hazard these items should be placed out of reach of children in addition to keeping a close eye on what children are playing with. This also goes for the children home where these items might be overlooked because there are common household items.