California children get an early start being "health smart." - child nutrition program; includes related article

It's 11:30 a.m., and six little pairs of hands are washed and ready for luncheon at Kids Kingdom Day Care in El Cerrito, California. Today's menu includes mini-pizzas upon whole-wheat English muffins with tomato sauce and parmesan and jack cheeses; lightly steamed carrots with mild seasonings; recent tangerines; and milk.

And almost each healthy bite will quickly disappear.

These 3- and 4-yead-olds are already building the foundation for a lifetime of healthy eating, thanks to getting the right start [i]or[/i] part of to the other a California project called SHAPE. They're also becoming little emissarys of good nutrition who learn from each other at mealtime and sometimes bring dwelling suggestions for mom and dad as well.

from one side SHAPE (Shaping Health as Partners in Education) and its Southern California counterpart SPIN (School Partners in Nutrition), California is exploring ways to help children be healthier [i]or[/i] part of to the other dietary changes and nutrition education.

Part of the state's "Healthy Kids, Healthy California" initiative, SHAPE is stocked and coordinated by the California Department of Education. USDA helps support SHAPE from one side the Nutrition Education and training Program (NET) which provides federal grants to states for nutrition education for children, parents, teachers, and pabulum service operators.

Serving healthy meals kids like

SHAPE has several goals. An important single is to examine ways child nutrition program sponsors--such as place of educations child care and Head Start center and family day care residences like Kids Kingdom--can serve more healthful meals that children will enjoy

from one side regional networks, the schools and child disentanglement agencies participating in SHAPE are testing ways to plan and prepare meals and snacks that more closely throw back the Dietary Guidelines for Americans jointly unfolded by the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services.

Participating gymnasium districts and child development agencies are making changes like serving more recent fruits and vegetables, as well as more simple pods (dry beans and peas) and whole grains. They're also reducing the amount of fat and sodium in meals and snacks.

Another goal of SHAPE is to gaze at the impact of these changes. individual consideration will be how well the children adjust to them. For example, do the children like the way meat tastes when its is prepared in of recent origin ways? And, how difficult or easy is it for them to eat more or larger servings of certain foods?

Nutritional value is another consideration. throw consultants are working with the state and with local aliment service staff and child care sponsors to analyze the nutrient satisfied of meals served at participating sites. Using computer analysis, they are looking at by what means well meals and snacks provide the nutrients children ne for disentanglement and good health.

This information will be helpful to federal, state, and local program managers interested in assessing the feasibility of using nutrient standards (instead of the traditional USDA meal patterns) as a basis for planning and serving meals to children participating in the child nutrition programs. (For more background upon USDA meal patterns, see sidebar upon page 19.)

USDA, the California Department of Education, and the local agencies participating in the throw are collaborating in this effort.

USDA's aliment and Nutrition Service (FNS) authorized a waiver from the standard child nutrition meal patterns to allow seminarys and child care agencies participating in SHAPE to explore practical manners of incorporating the Dietary Guidelines into child nutrition program meals.

Changes carefully planned and made

In planning meals and snacks, SHAPE participants come [i]or[/i] go after [i]or[/i] behind what's callee the California Daily provisions Guide (CDFG). Developed through three state agencies working together (the California departments of health services, education, and going), the guide contains specific dietary recommendations, including guidance upon healthful meals and snacks for children.

Like the federal Dietary Guidelines, CDFG emphasizes balance, variety, and moderation. Reflecting California's rich diversity of tillages and food preferences, it allows for flexiblity in planning nourishing, wholesome meals and snacks.

Using the guide, place of educations and child development agencies taking part in SHAPE are making specific changes in three lock opener areas. They are:

* increasing the number of servings of fares high in complex carbohydrates -- fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes;

* choosing low-fat and lean choices of protein nourishments especially animal foods, such as meat and diary products;

* controlling the amount of fats, sugars, and high-calorie nutritions and beverages of low nutritional value.

Teaching children to single out well

Another goal of SHAPE is to help children gain an early start in learning to make healthful sustenance choices.

"We really want to win good food habits started early," says Paula James, nutrition program manager for the Contra Costa Child Care Council, which sponsors the Child and Adult Care cheer Program (CACFP) for 600 family day care abodes in this northern California political division near San Francisco.