Childhood obesity has become an early learning issue in recent years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics state that childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years. According to the University of Washington, as many as one in five U.S. children is obese, which increases children’s risk of health issues like asthma and early puberty. 

As a result, childhood obesity has taken a place on the national stage. First Lady Michelle Obama launched the Let’s Move! initiative to address childhood obesity. There are many childhood obesity programs out there, from universities to medical organizations to child advocates to educators to public policy groups.

There are two steps to preventing childhood obesity: Good nutrition, which is also important to help young brains and bodies develop and grow; and physical activity, which also helps our youngest learners develop large muscle groups and gross motor skills.

Here at the Department of Early Learning, we have taken some steps to help families and child care providers be aware of and help lower the risk of childhood obesity.  

• Our child care licensing rules have specific requirements around the types of food and the way children are served meals and snacks, moving around and limiting screen time.
• Our ECEAP performance standards support healthy choices, including active play and healthy eating.
• We are updating the STARS basic child care training to include a module on nutrition and fitness, which will address developmental needs of children for physical activity, exercise and sleep.
• Child care providers can earn points in Early Achievers for completing a self-assessment and developing a plan for engaging parents in supporting positive health and nutrition practices.
• The Washington State Early Learning and Development Guidelines address active play in each development milestone from birth to age 8.
• The Early Learning Advisory Council in January heard from health experts at Seattle and King County Public Health about ways to prevent childhood obesity and to promote healthy eating and activities among child care providers and families.

This conversation will continue to evolve. DEL will present on our efforts to curb childhood obesity during a House Early Learning & Human Services Committee work session on March 15.

DEL also will be speaking at the first-ever all-day childhood obesity conference in Seattle next month and we will continue to share information with child care providers about ways to encourage physical activity and health eating habits with children and their families.  

Finally, this week my friend and colleague Nina Auerbach has announced she will be leaving her post as President and CEO of Thrive by Five Washington this summer. Nina has been everything we at DEL needed in a partner: collaborative, generous and forward-thinking. It will be with sadness and fondness that I bid her farewell and wish her well on her next adventure. Please join me in thanking her for her work on behalf of children and families in Washington.

Early Achievers, Washington’s quality rating and improvement system, is a voluntary program that gives participating child care providers training, coaching and scholarships to help them provide high-quality child care. Later this year, families will be able to use the ratings that providers earn as a tool for selecting care for their children.

DEL partners with Child Care Aware of Washington to work with child care providers who participate in Early Achievers. This month, we hear about their work in Eastern Washington.

The Spokane-based Early Achievers crew puts a lot of miles on their cars. That is especially true for April Westermann, who travels from Spokane once a month to Usk, 50 miles away.  Westermann is an Early Achievers Technical Assistance Specialist, and it is her job to guide and coach child care providers as they navigate Early Achievers. 

The Camas Early Learning Center became the first tribal child care facility to sign up for Early Achievers in October 2012.  The center, located in the Camas Center for Community Wellness on tribal land in Usk, is operated by the Kalispel Tribe. Cheryl Sample, the director for the Camas Early Learning Center, says one of the things she appreciates is that coaches like Westermann come to her center, rather than asking her to make the 50-plus mile drive.  As Sample put it, "After working a 10-hour day, you can't drive to Spokane."

The Early Achievers staff in Spokane understands that, and that’s why they set out to reach child care providers in 11 Eastern Washington counties to ensure that rural child care providers had easy access to the program. Early Achievers Technical Assistance Specialists were added to offices in Pullman, Walla Walla, and Pasco and were empowered to hit the road.

The strategy is working.  By the end of 2012, six months into the program, the Eastern Washington team had signed up 94 providers, including the Camas Early Learning Center, which couldn't wait to get started. Westermann says goals were established at her very first visit. "They’re excited do to this," she said.

"Knowing the rewards, it was definitely something we wanted to do," Sample said. She likes Early Achievers because it is based on best practices.  Even with the time commitment, she says participating in Early Achievers is worth it, for her staff of nearly 50 and those they serve. "This is a great benefit to children and families in our community," she said.

Photo courtesy Camas Early Learning Center

Washington's 2010 ban on the use of the chemical BPA in baby bottles, children's cups and sports bottles appears to be working. The Department of Ecology (Ecology) recently tested a number of these products on retail shelves in Washington and found that BPA has nearly disappeared. BPA, which stands for Bisphenol A, is a health concern for children.

In July 2012, Ecology tested 74 products purchased from nine Washington retailers. BPA levels must be less than 20 ppm. Products included baby bottles, sippy cups, toddler containers (bowls and plates), and plastic and metal sports bottles.  Nearly all the products collected were labeled "BPA-free." Most of samples (96 percent) did not contain BPA levels above20 ppm.

Only one sample turned up with a high enough BPA level for Ecology to take regulatory action--a polycarbonate sports bottle sold at a discount store that contained a BPA level of 100 ppm. It was not marketed as BPA-free, and it was the only bottle of its kind left on the store shelf. Ecology is working with the retailer, who no longer sells sports bottles, to ensure that they understand the requirements of the law and do not sell BPA-containing bottles in the future. The two other bottles containing detectable BPA were well below Ecology's enforcement limit.

Read more about BPA on Ecology’s website.