Authorities offer conflicting viewpoints on whether animal foods are essential to the health of young children or whether they can ingest the nutrients they need from plant sources. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) contends that because of the small capacity of young children's stomachs, they are not likely to consume all of the…

Most infants consume only breast milk or infant formula for the first 4 months, as their digestive systems and jaw and throat muscles are not ready for solid foods. Most healthcare professionals advise starting solid foods between 4 and 6 months of age, when infants can hold their heads up straight when sitting. The first solid food should be…

This booklet discusses the important role that day care providers can play in ensuring that children eat healthy snacks and meals and learn good eating habits. Section one of the booklet examines snack foods, discusses the difference between nutritious and less-nutritious snacks, and recommends snack foods appropriate for different age groups.…

This guide provides information to help child care centers and outside-school-hours care centers in the Child Care Food Program plan their food service operations. The guide covers the following topics: (1) guidelines for planning food for a day and daily meal patterns; (2) guidelines for planning menus; (3) suggested menus for young children; (4)…

Developed for use by staff participating in the Child Care Food Program (CCFP), this guide presents information on infant development, infant nutrition, safe food handling, and infant meal pattern requirements. The guide has an easy-to-read reference, covering general feeding issues as well as specifics of the CCFP infant meal pattern. All foods…

Mary Story, Karen Kaphingst, and Simone French argue that U.S. schools offer many opportunities for developing obesity-prevention strategies by providing more nutritious food, offering greater opportunities for physical activity, and providing obesity-related health services. Meals at school are available both through the U.S. Department of…

This kit is a tool for enabling communities to work together to motivate children and families to make food choices for healthy diets. Team Nutrition is the implementation tool for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's School Meals Initiative for Healthy Children. Its goal is to empower schools to serve healthy meals and motivate students to make…

This publication presents success stories and actual activities from Team Nutrition Days 1997 to serve as a starting point for other schools wanting to create their own nutrition education activities. Team Nutrition Days was a 1-week celebration that used innovative, interactive activities to teach children that nutrition is the link between…

Intended for use in Florida training programs for caregivers of infants and toddlers with disabilities, this guide presents an overview of the Model of Interdisciplinary Training for Children with Handicaps (MITCH); offers a user's guide to the series; and provides specific information for presenting Module 10, which focuses on nutrition and…

This activity book is designed to create awareness about all the issues attached to food supply and a healthy diet with factual information. Materials are provided for teachers to teach children about food in its entirety. The nine units include: (1) "Starting Activities: Sorting Foods and Factors Which Control Our Diet"; (2) "Food Likes and…

This booklet is a calendar companion which is designed to help schools plan and conduct monthly activities. It includes lesson planning and activities, information about supporter organizations' events and contests that promote nutrition and health, recipes, food service tips and resources, reproducibles for parents, and a list of Team Nutrition's…

This "how-to" guide for Team Nutrition fairs and tasting activities helps Team Nutrition supporters and schools understand how to work together to improve the health and education of children. Team Nutrition is the implementation tool for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's School Meals Initiative for Healthy Children. Section 1 of the guide…

This handbook presents child care providers with fifteen chapters containing the most current information available on child health, illness, and development. Chapter 1 addresses "Child Growth and Development" in the areas of muscle, social, emotional, and intellectual skills. Chapter 2 addresses "Children's Health Histories"…