Prevention of Overweight & Obesity in Infants and Toddlers

(Excerpt from interview with Dr. Rachel Téllez, Medical Advisor to the Head Start Bureau)
submitted by Gina Ruther, Head Start Collaboration Director

Rules of Thumb for Parents

• Breastfed infants have shown lower obesity rates in later childhood.
• Serve fresh fruit and water instead of juice; if juice is served only 4-6 oz. per day is recommended.
• Offer healthy-sized portions; the size of a young child’s fist is an appropriate portion size for that child.
• Plan ahead so that healthy snacks such as cheerios, fresh fruit and vegetables are part of the young child’s daily meals. For example, vegetables can be cut up over the weekend to make vegetable soup, add to spaghetti sauce or to quesadillas.
• Eat at the kitchen table and not in front of the television. It is easy to lose track of what young children are eating and the amount.
• Have planned mealtimes with young children; serve family style meals.
• Parents and teachers decide when infants and toddlers eat, and what they will be offered. A young child decides if she will eat and how much. However, sometimes young children might not be hungry. It is important for infants and especially toddlers to eat until they satisfy their hunger, but not to eat beyond hungry. Parents’ and teachers’ jobs are to recognize hunger cues in the infant and toddler to help the young child begin to recognize these cues in herself. The “Clean Plate Club” is now obsolete as well as the belief that the “larger the baby, the healthier.”
• Plan adequate time for structured and unstructured physical activities for children ages birth to two; 30 minutes of structured, and 60 minutes of unstructured physical activity are recommended for children ages 1 and up. Toddlers should have no more than 60 minutes of sedentary activity.

Ten Steps Teachers Can Take Right Now
(Adopted from TDA Nutrition Project Food for Thought for Head Start programs)

Small Steps:

• Lead by example
• Educate parents, staff & children on making healthy choices & establishing healthy habits
• Sponsor a center health fair
• Promote healthy ways to celebrate the holidays

Big Steps:

• Promote alternatives to celebrating birthdays
• Encourage non-food activity based events for parents to raise money instead of selling unhealthy food items
• Identify existing community physical activity resources, such as local & state health departments, schools, parks & recreation groups

Giant Steps:

• Incorporate healthy lifestyle messages into lesson plans
• Lead by action: promote physical activity in your center by organizing group walks during breaks, riding your bike or walking to work, or organizing fun activities that include physical activities
• Share your ideas to increase physical activities with families