Overview

To influence healthy nourishment in children, we must understand nutrition basics, causes and results of malnutrition issues of deficiencies or excess.

Module Objectives

After satisfactorily completing this module you should be able to:

Apply basic nutritional knowledge to feeding practices that make it more likely children will choose at-risk nutrients in their diets

Practice advocacy skills to promote environments in which it is easier for children to make healthy choices

Readings/Preparation

Marotz: Chapter 12-14

Rethinking Nutrition, Chapter 5, Appendices 1-3

Centers for Disease Control: “Spectrum of Opportunities for Obesity Prevention in the Early Care and Education Setting (ECE) CDC Technical Assistance Briefing Document ”

Learning Activities

Learning Log: record your pre-module understanding and your post-module learning 

Discussion - Obesity Prevention in Early Care: Discuss implications of CDC recommendations for obesity prevention.

Assignment - At-Risk Nutrients: Consider the behavior goals, basic nutrition principles, and concerns regarding at-risk nutrients.

Nutrition Basics

Nutrition advice is easy to find today. What we can`t be certain of is whether that advice is based on sound scientific fact. Therefore the more we – and the families we serve – understand nutrition basics, the more discerning consumers of food we will be. This module offers some basic nutrition information, behavior goals that research shows are most important to prevent childhood obesity, guidance to connect real foods with nutrients and tips to help translate Nutrition Fact Label information into quantities that we can actually see.