Topic outline

  • Welcome to the Healthy Caregivers Healthy Children Online Training

    Many unhealthy dietary and physical activity habits that cause obesity are established by the age of five. Approximately 70 percent of children in the United States are currently enrolled in early child care facilities, making this an ideal setting to prevent childhood obesity. The Healthy Caregivers Healthy Children training will provide you with policy tools and lessons you can use to help the children in your care get a healthy start.


    Course Objectives

    After completing the 6 sessions in this online course, early childhood professionals will be able to

    • List the four major ECE policies covered in the Healthy Caregivers Healthy Children curriculum
    • Lead preschool children in a variety of structured physical activities throughout the day
    • Explain to preschool children the benefits of eating a balanced diet including healthy fruits, vegetables, grains, proteins, and dairy products
    • Decrease or eliminate screen time in their child care centers by replacing it with alternate activities


    This course is organized into 6 sessions. Use the checklist below to make your way through course content and track your progress.

    • Session 1

      Session 1: Orientation to the Course

      This session will introduce you to the Healthy Caregivers Healthy Children curriculum and the research that supports the curriculum content. The session will explain the layout of the curriculum, connections to the CLASS observation tool standards, the format of the lesson plans, and the core resources needed to implement the curriculum.

      Session Goals

      The goals of this session are to prepare you to:

      • Make changes to child care policies to reduce children’s risk of obesity
      • Navigate the Healthy Caregivers Healthy Children curriculum
      • Teach the lessons as part of your classroom curriculum

    • Session 2

      Session 2: Physical Activity

      Researchers recommend that preschool children spend 90-120 minutes in active play in order to develop strong muscles and bones. Physical activity also helps children strengthen motor skills, practice turn-taking, and build many other important abilities. This session will introduce you to early childhood policies and standards related to physical activity. The session also highlights 2 core lessons and a book about physical activity that can be included in your classroom curriculum, as well as 2 optional lessons.

      Session Goals

      The goal of this session is to prepare you to:

      • Increase children’s daily amount of physical activity while in child care
      • Plan structured and unstructured physical activities for children
      • Decrease the amount of time children spend sitting each day

    • Session 3

      Session 2: Breakfast, Snack, and Lunch

      Healthy eating is an important component of early childhood obesity prevention. This session will introduce you to 7 standards to increase the healthfulness of breakfast, snack, and lunch in the child care setting. This session also reviews simple ways you can serve as a role model for healthy eating, and introduces you to 6 lessons and 3 books about healthy eating to include in your classroom curriculum.

      Session Goal

      The goal of this session is to equip you to:

      • Teach children about the health benefits of eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat proteins
      • Model healthy eating in front of children in the child care program
      • Encourage children to make healthy choices when eating

    • Session 4

      Session 4: Beverages and Oral Health

      Researchers have found that young children consume many calories through sugar-sweetened beverages. Overconsumption of these beverages increases obesity risk and contributes to dental problems. This session will introduce you to early childhood policies related to healthy beverages and oral health. The session also highlights 3 core lessons and a book about beverages and oral health that can be included in your classroom curriculum, as well as 3 optional lessons.

      Session Goals

      The goals of this session are to prepare you to

      • Teach children about the importance of drinking water and milk
      • Decrease children’s consumption of beverages that are not healthy, such as soda and fruit punch
      • Teach children about the importance of brushing and flossing their teeth
      • Teach children about eating healthy dairy foods

    • Session 5

      Session 5: Screen Time

      The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that preschool children's screen time from television, DVDs, computers, tablet computers, or video games be limited to 2 hours per day. This includes exposure at home and while at child care. Over 66% of children in the US exceed the recommended daily exposure. This session will introduce you to standards and policies related to screen time in child care. The session suggests alternative lessons to help replace screen time in your child care program.

      Session Goals

      The goals of this session are to prepare you to:

      • Limit the amount of screen time children experience in child care to 30 minutes per week
      • Plan and implement alternative lessons to replace screen time in child care

    • Conclusion

         Healthy Caregivers Healthy Children logo                                                     

      We hope this training will help you add evidence-based policies and activities to you early learning setting that support young children's healthy development.  

      Healthy Caregivers Healthy Children was developed by Ruby Natale, PhD, Sarah Messiah, PhD and a team from the University of Miami School of Medicine, Mailman Center for Child Development.  The eXtension Alliance for Better Child Care  adapted materials from in-person trainings to an online format. This research is funded by Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant #2015-68001-23232 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. We would like to take the opportunity to thank the USDA for their continued support. 

      When you have completed the core modules and taken the post-test, you will be able to download a certificate by selecting the link below .