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Childhood Obesity Prevention in Childcare Settings: the Potential of Policy and Environmental Change Interventions

  • Obesity Prevention (A Must, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Current obesity rates in young children are a serious public health concern; developing and implementing obesity prevention interventions in childcare settings is a promising avenue to address this issue. In recent years, there has been increasing focus on environmental and policy change interventions for this setting. Improving access to and quality of outdoor play spaces and implementing the Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care (NAP SACC) are two promising environmental change strategies in this setting. Laws at the local, state, and federal level have also been implemented; New York City and Delaware are two jurisdictions that have passed policies and provided preliminary evidence of the potential of policy interventions to change child outcomes. A combination of programmatic, environmental, and policy change strategies will likely be most effective in maximizing the potential of childcare settings to promote healthy weight in children.

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Compliance with Ethics Guidelines

Conflict of Interest

Laura Lessard reports that she conducted research in NYC as a paid research fellow of the Foundation for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and she conducted research in Delaware as a paid Social Scientist with the Nemours Foundation.

Andrew Breck declares that he conducted research in NYC as a paid research fellow of the Foundation for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Health Sciences, Arcadia University, 450 South Easton Road, Glenside, PA, 19038, USA

    Laura Lessard

  2. New York University Wagner School of Public Service, 295 Lafayette St, New York, NY, 10012, USA

    Andrew Breck

  3. New York University School of Medicine, 550 1st Ave, New York, NY, 10016, USA

    Andrew Breck

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  1. Laura Lessard
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  2. Andrew Breck
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Correspondence to Laura Lessard.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Obesity Prevention

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Lessard, L., Breck, A. Childhood Obesity Prevention in Childcare Settings: the Potential of Policy and Environmental Change Interventions. Curr Obes Rep 4, 191–197 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-015-0154-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-015-0154-y

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