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Healthy Eating
Children looking at an adult holding up a cucumber slice.

Explore these resources to find tips and strategies that staff and families can use to encourage healthy eating. Find recipes for healthy meals and snacks and learn more about how good eating habits contribute to children's growth and development.

Obesity in Children

Childhood obesity increases the likelihood of adulthood obesity. Explore these tips for creating a positive eating environment and using movement as a learning tool.

Positive Food and Eating Environments

This video introduces strategies to create a positive eating environment. Use this information to help staff and families understand that mealtime is not just an eating event. It's a learning opportunity.

Nutrition Building Blocks

Learn important nutrition messages and activities to help young children build a lifetime of healthy eating practices, in this webinar and online course.

Building a Healthy Eating Environment

Learn why it is important to create a positive eating environment. Find out how doing so supports mealtime behavior and picky eaters. It can also support children who experience food insecurity. 

Positive Eating Environment Tool

Use this interactive tool to learn about practices programs can use to create a positive eating environment. Find out how to build an eating environment that supports children’s healthy growth and development.

Positive Eating Environment Self-Assessment for ECE Programs

The Positive Eating Environment Self-Assessment for Early Care and Education (ECE) Programs offers a brief, user-friendly way to assess basic mealtime practices. Learn how this assessment can help center-based and family child care programs that serve 3 to 5 year olds. Staff can use this tool to evaluate the availability of healthy nutrition and mealtime environments. It can also be used for staff discussions and policy planning.