Preventing Childhood Obesity in Child Care: The NAP SACC Program

“NAP SACC taught us so much about making healthy meals. We now use fresh fruit instead of juices and cut out a lot of the salt and fat from the vegetables. The kids don’t seem to mind,” said Norma Bell, Director of Little Teddies Daycare in Chapel Hill.

Childhood obesity is a national health crisis. President Obama has called it the “most urgent” health issue facing the country. In North Carolina, more than 31% of children ages 2 to 4 are overweight or at risk for becoming overweight. These rates have increased steadily since 1995. A poor diet and physical inactivity can lead to increased risks for diabetes, heart disease, and other preventable illnesses. 

Early childhood education programs can play an important role in combating childhood obesity. Approximately 37% of North Carolina children ages 2 to 5 are in child care where they may consume half to all of their Recommended Dietary Allowances. 

Nutrition and Physical Activity Self Assessment for Child Care (NAP SACC) Program Description

Developed by the UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, NAP SACC brings state-trained health consultants into child care programs to help improve: 

• the nutritional quality of food served
• amount and quality of physical activity
• staff-child interactions around food and physical activity
• center nutrition and physical activity policies.

 

NAP SACC Evaluation Results

Between January 2008 and June 2009, Smart Start brought the NAP SACC program to 6,047 children at 128 child care centers in 10 counties. Evaluation results showed that NAP SACC was making a positive impact: 

• 53% of the child care centers significantly increased physical activity, giving children more active play time and better equipment.
• More than half of the centers significantly improved nutrition practices, giving children healthy foods more often, including replacing juice with water and serving lean proteins and healthy grains.
Centers offering more than 90 minutes of active play each day increased from 33% to 61%.

Written policies are critical to ensuring centers continue healthy practices. After participating in NAP SACC:

• Centers that followed written nutrition policies increased from 35% to 60%.
• Centers that followed written physical activity policies increased from 15% to 55%.

Smart Start NAP SACC programs have received a significant investment from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation and support from the Apple Gold Group.

 

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