Invitation for Parents
Let's Move! Child Care is for you, too. Use our tools and talk with your child care providers, so together you can give your kids the very best start.
One in five children is overweight or obese by age 6. You can help.
As a child care provider, you have the powerful opportunity to instill healthy choices that could help prevent
childhood obesity from the start. With about 12 million babies and young children in child care nationwide,
we can’t afford to wait.
Let's Move! Child Care Goals (from infancy through preschool)
1. Physical Activity: Provide 1-2 hours of physical activity throughout the day, including outside play when possible.
2. Screen Time: No screen time for children under 2 years. For children age 2 and older, strive to limit screen time to no more than 30 minutes per week during child care, and work with parents and caregivers to ensure children have no more than 1-2 hours of quality screen time per day (as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics).
3. Food: Serve fruits or vegetables at every meal, eat meals family-style whenever possible, and don't serve fried foods.
4. Beverages: Provide access to water during meals and throughout the day, and don't serve sugar-sweetened drinks. For children age 2 and older, serve low-fat (1%) or non-fat milk, and no more than one 4- to 6-ounce serving of 100% juice per day.
5. Infant Feeding: For mothers who want to continue breastfeeding, provide their milk to their infants and welcome them to breastfeed during the child care day. Support all new parents in their decisions about infant feeding.
