Study: Many States Lack Adequate Nutrition, Activity Regulations for Childcare Facilities
By Hugh C. McBride
A study conducted at Harvard Medical School has found considerable variance in the type and quality of state laws designed to prevent obesity and promote healthy nutrition in child care centers and family child care homes.
The researchers, who published their findings in the May 30, 2008, issue of the journal BMC Public Health, evaluated child care regulations in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The group was particularly interested in legislation that addressed the following eight issues:
- Water is freely available.
- Sugar-sweetened beverages are limited.
- Foods of low nutritional value are limited.
- Children are not forced to eat.
- Food is not used as a reward.
- Support is provided for breastfeeding and provision of breast milk.
- Screen time is limited.
- Physical activity is required daily.
Tennessee was the most regulated state, with laws related to six of the eight concerns listed above, while Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, and Nevada each addressed five. At the opposite end of the regulatory spectrum, California, the District of Columbia, Idaho, and Nebraska had no laws in place regarding these issues.
"Many states lack specific nutrition and physical activity regulations related to childhood obesity for child care facilities," the study's authors wrote in the conclusion to their report. "If widely implemented, enhancing state regulations could help address the obesity epidemic in young children in the United States."
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