Every kid deserves a healthy start in life. No matter where children live or go for early care and education, they deserve healthy food and age appropriate physical activity.
Moore’s Daycare Preparatory School, Inc., an early care and education center located in the West Athens neighborhood of Los Angeles, prepares young children for an early start in school by offering a classroom setting with qualified teachers and Spanish lessons.
According to research published in Preventive Medicine Reports, healthy eating and physical activity are associated with better learning in children ages six months to five years of age.
“Implementing healthy habits in early care and education is important to me because I’m a parent first,” said Ronneisha Davis Lewis, family child care assistant director. “You have to present healthy food as fun and exciting and not as a punishment,” she added.
Lewis believes that public funding will allow her to allocate more money towards showcasing healthy food lists, charts and posters around her center, along with other information to educate parents on healthy habits they can incorporate at home.
“I want to have a checklist for parents and kids so that parents can see what vegetables their child had and the time they spent outside,” Lewis added..
Lewis is a firm believer that healthy environments will not only enrich the lives of children, but parents and caregivers as well.
Find out more about the benefits of childhood education by visiting www.heart.org/HealthyECE.
