Is Your Childcare Facility Meeting Nutritional Guidelines?

Your child’s nutritional wellness is very important, but how do you know if their day-care facility believes the same thing? While you might assume institutions would follow recommended guidelines, you can’t be there every minute of every day to check the daycare is taking care of your child’s wellbeing (if you were able, you wouldn’t need daycare in the first place!) Luckily, a new study, published in the peer-reviewed Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, has actually looked at whether recommendations on childhood feeding practices were being followed by US daycare institutions.

 

The study was carried out by researchers from the University of Illinois and was funded by the US Department of Health and Human Services, the Illinois Trans-Disciplinary Obesity Prevention Program, the Illinois Council for Food and Agricultural Research, the University of Illinois and the US Department of Agriculture. The researchers undertook a cross-sectional survey of how 118 childcare facilities in the US fed children in their care. A mix of different organisations ran these facilities, including Head Start (a US government programme for children and their families on a low income), the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), a US federal initiative which provides subsidised food services for children in daycare and other non-government daycare programmes (called non-CACFP).

 

The recommendations for healthy feeding practices were developed by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in 2011, and the researchers looked at whether childcare providers in these programmes met these recommendations. More than 12 million preschool children attend childcare in the US, and up to three-quarters of their daily energy intake is consumed while there. This makes your child’s daycare facility the perfect place to promote healthy eating behaviours and prevent obesity – if they meet the right guidelines.

 

As part of the guidance, childcare providers should:

• sit with the children during meals


• eat meals together with the children


• serve meals “family-style” (rather than delivered pre-plated or in bulk)


• help children recognise internal hunger and fullness signals with verbal cues


• not use controlling practices such as restrictions on food or pressure to eat


• provide a model of healthy eating


• teach children about nutrition


• encourage balance and variety of foods


• train staff in nutrition


• educate children and parents about nutrition

 

The results of the study revealed that Head Start providers sat more frequently with children during meals, ate the same foods as children and served meals family-style more often, compared with CACFP and non-CACFP providers. Head Start also won out in terms of providing parents and children with more nutrition-education opportunities, encouraging more balance and variety of foods and offering healthier foods. This means that Head Start providers had greater compliance with the Academy’s benchmarks compared with CACFP and non-CACFP providers.

 

But does the research stack up? According to the NHS website, ‘Overall, the research found that most childcare programmes were following the recommendations. But it should be noted that the researchers used questionnaires that the childcare organisations filled in themselves (which could be open to bias). The study also did not look at any outcomes for the children. The question of whether regular mealtimes do produce “slimmer children” remains unanswered – at least by this research. A 2011 review of studies involving around 100,000 children suggested an association between regular family mealtimes and a reduction in the risk of a child being overweight. Credible as this evidence seems, it is likely that more research is needed before the style and culture of mealtimes can be conclusively linked with children’s weight.’

Categories: cacfp providers, childcare, childcare providers, Children, daycare, family style, feeding practices, Healthy Eating, meals family, nutrition, nutritional guidelines, Research

Could Childcare Influence a Happy Work Environment?

The Southern Orange County Paediatric Associates company was named one of the top places to work for the fourth year running, ranking second in the small businesses category. SOCPA also received a special award for their Work/Life flexibility. It seems that their healthcare could be setting this company apart from others in the area, with SOCPA offering 11 paediatricians and 4 nurse practitioners who offer healthcare to infants, children and adolescents in the area since 1977. Their mission is to offer quality healthcare to patients in Southern Orange County, so that they can build a strong community. The organisation also offers sick and well appointments, alongside a programme for weight management, ADHD and asthma, among others.

 

SOCPA has developed a number of great benefits over the years since being founded – it was the first to utilise an office-based consultant and paediatric nurse practitioner, as well as being innovative in offering a female nurse paediatrician. Employees have stated that what they value is the teamwork aspect of the company and their flexibility – they can see that the company cares about their employees, which makes them feel valued and appreciated. Another element of the company which is novel but effective is the opportunity for employees to bring their children in to work with them – it shows that management are willing to accommodate those who have different schedules. The company is a testament to the idea that if you give to the staff, they will return with a strong work ethic and the flexibility you’ve shown them.

 

With this in mind, it seems that the way to build a happy workplace is to not only help out your staff when they need it, but to also appreciate them and value the fact that they have personal lives outside of the office. When employees feel trusted to work around their home life without it compromising their job, they’re more willing to give that little bit extra in return. The nature of SOCPA has earned them the title of one of the best places to work in the area – and it seems to be largely based on their attitude towards their staff.

Categories: childcare, schedule, workplace

Do Family-Friendly Businesses Have a Competitive Edge?

By autumn of this year, Lexmark hopes to unveil a 25,500-square-foot onsite child-care facility, offering full-time, part-time and emergency back-up child care for up to 186 children and grandchildren of employees. The facilities are set to cater to children from infants up to age 12, and summer camp programmes are also planned, so are Lexmark leading the way in family-friendly business practice?

‘It’s a deep commitment to our employee population,’ said Jeri Isbell, vice president of human resources for Lexmark. ‘We have a good base of employees here, and we really felt like the time was right. With the demographics of our population and our future population, and looking at attraction and retention, it all just seemed to come together very nicely for us.’ Paula Anderson, Lexmark’s director of diversity, recruiting and corporate citizenship, added that today’s job market for software engineers is highly competitive, and so benefits like high-quality onsite child care could help Lexmark to differentiate itself as an employer.

Featuring indoor and outdoor play areas for every age group and a full kitchen that will enable partnering opportunities with local culinary programmes and other wellness initiatives, the new centre will emphasise a STEAM curriculum (science, technology, engineering, arts and maths). Anderson explained that this will align nicely with the talents and interests of the Lexmark workforce, who will be able to visit and have lunch with their children during the workday, and the needs of nursing mothers will also be accommodated for.

The Bingham McCutchen Global Services Centre is offering a different kind of support for employees with young children or ageing parents, who will be able to contact an emergency hotline if their regular care giving arrangements fall through for the day, or if an ageing parent needs some extra help for a few days after surgery, the employee can call a dedicated hotline.  A representative from Bright Horizons will then either schedule a place at a local care centre or send a caregiver to the employee’s home.

Lynn Carroll, chief human resources officer for Bingham McCutchen, explained that emergency back-up child care and adult care “one of the signature benefits” of the company’s corporate wellness programmes. ‘We understand that last-minute changes in care providers can be very stressful for employees, and having that consistent safety net in terms of a resource to go to, whether or not it is for child care or adult care, can really alleviate that stress and enable our employees to be able to come to work and know that their families are being well cared for.’

Jonathan Dotson, vice president of client relations for Bright Horizons, added ‘What we’re continuing to hear, even through the last few years, from top employers is that it’s a great investment of their resources in their human capital. They want to recruit and retain the top talent, that’s always an issue, and strong dependent care programmes make them stand out from other places that people could choose to work.’

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Do Family-Friendly Businesses Have a Competitive Edge?

Categories: caring for the elderly, childcare, family-friendly