Organization:
NAEYC: National Association for the Education of Young Children
www.naeyc.org
Description:
NAEYC is the world's largest membership organization working on behalf of children. The organization boasts 80,000 members, 300+ state and local Affiliates, and a growing global alliance. NAEYC members include teachers, paraeducators, center directors, trainers, college educators, families of young children, and the public at large. Perhaps the most notable portion to the organization is their accreditation standards and monitoring of child care programs. NAEYC accredited programs are sought by many parents for the level of education, care, and curriculum that NAEYC guarantees through the accreditation process. NAEYC, due to their national reputation as a leader in the field of early childhood, is often sought out by state and national policy makers to weigh in on public policies that affect young children.
Issue/Trend:
One particular thing that caught my attention was an area of the website devoted to "Childhood Obesity Prevention". At first glance, I was looking for one of the issues and trends that normally come to mind when thinking of diversity, but being on my own personal weight loss journey this area caught my eye. I began to think of obesity in a new light and certainly one that could be defined as an issue or trend within the early childhood setting. Obesity has many roots in early childhood nutrition, activity levels, and family histories. Knowing that this issue begins in childhood and can be prevented makes it a current trend that I think is valuable to know about and understand as it relates to the children in our care. On the other hand, as part of this wealth of resources was information regarding malnutrition and children who lack food and nutrition. Obesity, lack of nutrition, and the effects on learning and good health are all interrelated and part of early childhood education. It is our job as educators to provide good nutrition, model good eating habits, and healthy activities.
Relation to this week's topic:
Relating obesity and nutrition to changing demographics and diversity at first was difficult. However, after some thought, the two can certainly be interrelated as children from different cultures and backgrounds will come into our care with specific food that they like and dislike, food that is specific to their culture, and perhaps even eating cycles or meal preparations that are not the same as our western culture. As educators, we need to be sensitive to these issues and be sure that we are aware of the role that food plays in cultures and specific families.
I think you are so right! The eating habits of children vary depending on their culture. We see it every day at lunch. We do have a strong Spanish/Latin American population here in South Florida. Those children always have tortillas, beans and rice, fish and rice. The children are obviously curious about each other's lunches, and almost always ask questions. It is important to allow them to show the other children what they have and discuss the things they like to eat. This is educational and fun.
ReplyDeleteStacy,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your blog post. I am 100% on board with battling obesity, especially early childhood obesity. It is such a horrible and debilitating habit/illness and I personally believe that it needs to be closely addressed. I think that as professionals in education, it is also responsibility to highlight the importance of good nutrition. I know that in most cases it's just a lack of understanding the nutritional properties of food, but that is where educators could come in the picture. Schools could hold a good nutrition seminar once a month or so for the families and children in order to give them a better understanding. The nutrition of the child is not the child's responsibility (at an early age), it is the responsibility of the family; therefore, it is very important that all families stay current on obesity.
Thanks for your post again!!