Building Support for Healthy Standards Among Child Care Providers

Child care professionals want to do what’s best for children. Setting consistent standards for nutrition, physical activity, and screen time in child care is one way to ensure all child care settings can help children grow up healthy. Messaging can be an effective method of sharing information and encouraging healthy behaviors. In an effort to develop messages that would increase support for strong, consistent standards, Child Care Aware® of America has developed a healthy standards messaging toolbox for child care professionals. This toolbox was developed as the result of focus groups conducted with child care professionals (teachers and providers) in six states.

State-based Focus Group Findings

Click on each of the states below to get more in-depth and anecdotal information.

 

Build Your Own Message Tool

The goal of this work was to develop messages that would:

• Resonate with child care providers by stressing the important role they play in children’s healthy lifestyle,
• Motivate providers to implement the messages in their programs, and
• Motivate providers to support statewide standards on nutrition, active play and screen time.

Child care and workforce advocates can use the messages developed as part of the healthy standards toolbox to increase support for healthier standards among child care professionals in their state. We encourage you to use the “build your own message” tool below.

Create Your Own Infographics

With the generous support of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the following, this was made possible:

Childcare Resources in Birmingham, AL; Child Development Resources in Tuscaloosa, AL; Qualistar Colorado in Denver and Loveland, CO;  Early Learning Indiana in Indianapolis, IN; Child Care Aware® of Missouri in Saint Louis, MO; Child Care Solutions in Syracuse, NY; and Child Care Resources Inc. in Charlotte, NC.

Thanks again to our partners for helping identify participants and in hosting the focus groups. We are grateful for your support and partnership.