Children’s Health & Well-being

Child health and childhood obesity are two related aspects of early childhood care and education that have been the focus of a lot of attention recently. There are many issues which impact on the health and well-being of young children.

In my work with children and early childhood services, educators are reporting family poor eating habits, increased use of technology in the home, parent pressures and lack of daily physical exercise are all factors which contribute to what is becoming known as the obesity epidemic. While these are some of the risk factors, there are many simple and effective ways to prevent childhood obesity and encourage a healthy lifestyle in young children.

A healthy lifestyle consists of many things. As advocates for young children, we as educators need to not only promote their social, spiritual and moral well-being, but we also need to promote and encourage their physical and mental health. While this can be implemented in our service programs such as Munch & Move and of course daily conversations, it does not end there. We need to become more proactive and educate families and the larger community. While being technologically aware is fantastic, children and families need to get back to basics and this means family dinners around the table, playing outside, using our imaginations and enjoying time together.

So what can we do as educators and services? Firstly start with your own meal times. Sit, chat and eat with the children.  Play with the children… engage in physically active play such as sport, dance, yoga and free play. We can utilise our Newsletters and Daily Reflections to send messages to families about the importance of healthy living and well-being by posing questions, facts and information… such as;

“How do you spend meal times in your house hold? What messages are we sending our children about healthy eating?” Did you know that sitting together at the table and eating a home cooked meal increases feelings of well-being and belonging, encourages children to try new foods and increases family communication.