Child Health and Wellness

Child Health & Wellness encompasses the whole child as a state of physical, mental, intellectual, social, and emotional well-being. Engage these available resources to improve the way you reinforce child health and wellness in your programs.

Nutrition Education Resources
Early Care & Education settings play an important role in serving nutritious and appealing foods. Teaching children about healthy food choices and the food groups at a young age will help in setting the foundations for developing lifelong healthy eating behaviors. Nutrition Education is a vital part of a comprehensive health education program and empowers children with knowledge and skills to make healthy food and beverage choices.¹

For more information and resources, view the about Child Health & Wellness page.

¹Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. School health guidelines to promote healthy eating and physical activity. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2011;60(RR-5):1–76.
- Breastfeeding
- Child Care Nutrition
- Nutrition Education
  - Activities
  - Information
    - A Guide to Smart Snacks in School
    - Interpreting a Nutrition Label
    - Nibbles for Health: Nutrition Newsletters for Parents of Young Children (English and Spanish)
- CACFP
  - Farm to CACFP: Local Foods, Related Activities & Resources in CACFP
  - Mealtimes with Toddlers in the CACFP Video Series (English and Spanish).
  - Growing a Healthier Future with the CACFP
  - Mealtimes with Toddlers Family Handout (English and Spanish)
  - Mealtimes With Toddlers in the CACFP (English and Spanish)
  - Three Meals a Day: A Win-Win-Win – A Guide to Starting and Improving your Afterschool Meals Program
- SFSP
  - Summer Meals Toolkit
  - Summer Food, Summer Moves Resource Kit:
    - Operator Activity Guide (English and Spanish)
  - Family Engagement
    - Summer Meals, Summer Fun (English and Spanish)
    - Stay Cool with Summer Meals (English and Spanish)
    - Movin' with Summer Meals (English and Spanish)
    - Summer Meals, Summer Friends (English and Spanish)
    - Let's Celebrate Summer Meals (English and Spanish)
    - Eat Smart to Play Hard (English and Spanish)
- Food Allergies
- Training Tools
  - USDA
  - Other
- Useful Websites
  - MyPlate
  - Meal Sites
  - Strong4Life
  - Strong4Life Early Care Programs
  - HealthMPowers
  - The OrganWise Guys
  - Child Nutrition Sharing Site
  - USDA’s Team Nutrition (English)
  - USDA’s Team Nutrition (Spanish)
  - Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics
Meals and Menu Planning
The following resources are designed to assist CACFP and SFSP organizations with planning meals for Program participants. This section provides a wealth of information on what to serve – choosing the healthiest, most nutritious options and serving sizes per age group.
- COVID-19
- SFSP
  - SFSP Nutrition Guide
  - USDA’s Summer Meals Webinars and Videos
Farm to Child Nutrition Programs
- Farm to Early Care & Education
  - Farm to Early Care and Education (ECE) incorporates the three core elements of local procurement, gardens, and food and agriculture education to advance health and wellbeing, engage families and communities, and enhance the quality of the ECE setting. #GAFarmtoECE
  - The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded DECAL’s Nutrition Division with a USDA Farm to School Grant in FY 2023. The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning will strengthen Farm to ECE across the state of Georgia. DECAL’s vision is that every child in Georgia will have equal access to high quality early care and education (ECE). With the support of this grant, DECAL will: implement a Farm to ECE Procurement Grant program to support select CACFP sites and farmers in local procurement through workshops, technical assistance, grant funds, certifications, and mentorship; co-host the 9th Farm to School and ECE Summit alongside Georgia Organics at three different locations across the state; partner with the Black Child Development Institute-Atlanta to create an Early Childhood Wellness Toolkit with developmentally appropriate and culturally responsive activities connected to Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Farm to ECE; and partner with Small Bites Adventure Club to provide high-quality, monthly turn-key food education resources and recipes, family engagement programming, and professional development for ECE educators. By leveraging the Farm to School State Agency grant and community partnerships, DECAL will build upon Georgia’s Farm to ECE foundations for improving access to local foods in child nutrition programs across the state while emphasizing local procurement and nutrition and agricultural education efforts.
  - Farm to School and Farm to Early Care and Education Month
    Governor Brian Kemp has signed a proclamation stating October as Farm to School and Farm to Early Care and Education Month. Farm to School (F2S) and Farm to Early Care and Education (FTECE) programs represent an innovative opportunity to address some of the most critical issues facing Georgia through a comprehensive approach that seeks to improve child nutrition, thus improving academic performance and providing local market opportunities for Georgia farmers. Georgia agencies, schools, ECE providers, parents, students, farmers, and communities are collaborating to implement F2S and FTECE programs to increase access and education around fresh, local, and nutritious foods, reducing childhood obesity. View the proclamation here.
  - The Farm to ECE Coalition is a network that joins stakeholders in early care, food, farming, and nutrition to coalesce resources and support farm to early care and education, and to create dialogue for building statewide programming.
    - Georgia Farm to School Alliance and Georgia Farm to Early Care and Education Coalition 2021-2025 Strategic Plans
  - Resources
- Farm to CACFP
  - Early childhood is the ideal time to establish healthy eating habits. Farm to CACFP works to connect child care settings to local food producers with the objectives of serving locally-grown, healthy foods to young children, providing related nutrition education, and improving child nutrition. Farm to CACFP activities can increase children’s willingness to try new foods and help them become familiar with local foods they will see in school. Farm to CACFP creates a reliable outlet for producers and the smaller purchasing volumes for child care settings are a good fit for local farmers.
  - Farm to CACFP: Local Foods, Related Activities & Resources in CACFP
- Farm to Summer
  - Summer in Georgia is a time of agricultural abundance and bountiful harvests. Farm to Summer programs play an important role in summer feeding. Summer Meals Programs capitalize on the many opportunities that summer brings to serve fresh, local foods and hands-on activities that help children develop healthy habits. Learn more with the resources below! #SummerMealsGA
  - USDA's Farm to Summer
  - DECAL’s Farm to Summer
  - DECAL’s Virtual Farm Field Trip
  - Summer Meals: Incorporating Local Foods USDA Webinar
  - Farm to Summer: Why Summer Meals Programs are Ripe for Local Foods and Agriculture-Based Activities
  - Local Foods and Related Activities in Summer Meal Programs, with Questions and Answers
- Getting Started
  - Farm to Early Care and Education Frequently Asked Questions
  - Getting Started: Georgia Farm to Early Care and Education Guide
- Local Foods and Farms
- Gardening
- Food Education
  - Cooking & Tasting
  - Educating
- Harvest of the Month
  - The Georgia Early Care and Education Harvest of the Month is a collaborative campaign between Quality Care for Children, Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, Georgia Department of Human Services, and Georgia Organics. The campaign aims to encourage healthy eating habits by promoting a different local, seasonal fruit or vegetable each month.
  - Some examples of Harvest of the Month implementation in Georgia Early Care & Education settings include:
    - Serving locally grown foods in child nutrition programs
    - Curriculum connections through incorporating food, agriculture, and nutrition into the curriculum
    - Taste Tests conducted with local foods
    - Hands-on learning through school gardening
    - Farm field trips
    - Visits to ECE settings by farmers and related professionals including small business owners, registered dietitians, and culinary professionals
    - Partnerships with Culinary Programs
  - Harvest of the Month Calendar August 2024 - July 2025
    (Spanish HOTM Calender)
    - The Georgia Early Care and Education Harvest of the Month is a collaborative campaign to promote a different local, seasonal fruit or vegetable in child care settings each month.
  - Department of Education’s Harvest of the Month
  - Quality Care for Children’s Harvest of the Month
  - Department of Education’s Harvest with Holly
- Training Tools
  - Georgia Organics’ Farm to ECE videos
  - Quality Care for Children’s Farm to ECE videos
- Useful Websites
CACFP Meal Patterns
On April 25, 2016, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) published the final rule “Child and Adult Care Food Program: Meal Pattern Revisions Related to the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010”. The final rule amended the CACFP regulations at 226.20 to update the meal pattern requirements. CACFP centers and day care homes had to start complying with the updated meal pattern requirements on October 1, 2017. Overall, the updated meal patterns strengthen the nutritional quality of the meals served, allow CACFP institutions to serve more diverse and culturally appropriate foods, and address dietary needs of Program participants. Meals and snacks served will include a greater variety of vegetables and fruit, more whole grains, and less added sugar and saturated fat. In this section, various forms of information will provide further guidance for institutions in implementing the CACFP Updated Meal Patterns.
- Adult Day Care: A Child and Adult Care Food Program Handbook
- Crediting Handbook for the Child and Adult Care Food Program (English)
- Manual de Acreditación para el Programa de Alimentos para el Cuidado de Niños y Adultos(Spanish)
- Feeding Infants in the Child and Adult Care Food Program
- Mealtimes with Toddlers in the Child and Adult Care Food Program
- Mealtimes with Toddlers in the CACFP Video Series (English and Spanish).
- Healthy Cooking in the CACFP with Chef Asata Reid: A Five Part Video Series
  
  Follow Chef Asata Reid on a culinary journey as she models cooking skills and best practices to enhance your CACFP meal service program! Learn about Knife Skills, CACFP Snacks, Enhancing Meal Appeal, Using Seasonal Produce, and Using Spices and Herbs. Use this Healthy Cooking in the CACFP video series presented by the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning’s Nutrition Services Division for your training sessions, webinars, and professional development meetings with food preparation and menu development staff.
- Meal Pattern Posters
- Meal Pattern Charts
  - Infants (all meals and snacks)
  - Children and Adults
- Grains
  - Grain Ounce Equivalents Webinar Recording
  - CACFP Trainers' Circle: Training Program Operators to Use Grains Ounce Equivalents Webinar Recording
  - Exhibit A Grains Tool to the Rescue Webinar Recording
  - Crediting Single-Serving Packages of Grains in the CACFP (English and Spanish)
  - Determining Ounce Equivalents of Grains in CACFP Recipes (English and Spanish)
  - Calculating Ounce Equivalents for Grains in the CACFP (English and Spanish)
  - Feeding Infants Using Ounce Equivalents for Grains in the CACFP (English and Spanish)
  - Grain-Based Desserts in the CACFP (English and Spanish)
  - Using Ounce Equivalents for Grains in the CACFP (English and Spanish)
  - Adding Whole Grains to your CACFP Menu (English and Spanish)
  - How to Spot Whole Grain-Rich Foods for the CACFP (English and Spanish)
  - Reducing the Risk of Choking in Young Children at Mealtimes (English and Spanish)
  - Identifying Whole Grain-Rich Foods for the CACFP (English and Spanish)
  - Is My Recipe Whole Grain-Rich in the CACFP? (English and Spanish)
  - Using the WIC Food Lists to Identify Grains for the CACFP (English and Spanish)
- Vegetables
  - Serving Vegetables in the CACFP (English and Spanish)
- Meats / Meat Alternates
  - Serving Meats and Meat Alternates at Lunch and Supper in the USDA CACFP (English and Spanish)
  - Serving Meats and Meat Alternates at Breakfast (English and Spanish)
- Milk
  - Serving Milk in the CACFP (English and Spanish)
- Sugar Limits
  - Choose Breakfast Cereals That Are Lower in Sugar (English and Spanish)
  - Choose Yogurts That Are Lower in Sugar (English and Spanish)
  - Calculating Sugar Limits for Breakfast Cereals in the CACFP (English and Spanish)
  - Calculating Sugar Limits for Yogurt in the CACFP (English and Spanish)
- Nutrition
  - Offering Water in the USDA CACFP (English and Spanish)
  - Serving Adult Participants in the USDA CACFP (English)
  - Serving Adult Participants in the CACFP (Spanish)
  - Serving Snacks in the CACFP (English and Spanish)
  - Methods for Healthy Cooking (English)
  - Methods for Healthy Cooking (Spanish)
  - Offer Versus Serve in the CACFP (English and Spanish)
  - Mealtimes with Toddlers Family Handout (English and Spanish)
  - Using the Nutrition Facts Label in the CACFP (English and Spanish)
  - Calculating Ounce Equivalents of Grains in the CACFP (English and Spanish)
  - Reducing the Risks of Choking in Young Children at Mealtimes (English & Spanish)
  - Crediting Store-Bought Combination Baby Foods in the CACFP (English and Spanish)
  - Feeding Infants Using Ounce Equivalents for Grains in the CACFP (English and Spanish)
- Training Tools
  - USDA
USDA Recipe Box

The Child Nutrition Recipe Box provides Child Nutrition program operators with recipes to prepare healthy and delicious meals that meet meal pattern requirements. These recipes are standardized to provide meal pattern crediting information for all meal pattern components and include recipes made with legumes, whole grains, and vegetables from the vegetable subgroups including dark green, red, and/or orange vegetables. Browse recipes for the Child and Adult Care Food Programs (CACFP) and for school nutrition programs.
Food Safety
Food safety is a vital part of CACFP and SFSP meal preparation and service. Organizations are required to ensure proper health and sanitation measures are in place so that safe and healthy meals are served to children.
DECAL’s Food Safety Video Series

Proper Cooling of Food

Proper Hand Washing

Proper Labeling of Food

Thawing of Food

Prepararing Ready to Eat Food

Hot Holding of Food

Cross-Contamination of Food

Cold Holding of Food
Physical Activity
Physical activity is a key component of childhood development. As children spend a large amount of time in child care facilities, ECE settings are one of the best places to provide children with physical activity. The Center for Disease Control recommends 60 minutes or more of physical activity for children ages 3 through 5 years old.
- American College of Sports and Medicine (ACSM)
- Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Physical Activity)
- Community-based organizations in Georgia (Physical Activity)
- Early Childhood and Education/Children Curriculum Resource
- - SPARK Early Childhood – The World's Most Evidence-Based Physical Education & Physical Activity Programs!
- National CACFP Sponsors Association (Physical Activity)
- National Library of Medicine (MedlinePlus)
- Nemours Children’s Health
- - Healthy Kids, Healthy Future: Physical Activity in Child Care
  - Healthy Kids, Healthy Future: Physical Activity Learning Session (PALS) Training for ECE Providers
- Physical Activity Materials/Resources
- Physical Activity Programs & Movement
- - Physical Activity Alliance
  - Fuel Up to Play 60
- United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) – Food and Nutrition Service Materials
- - Eat Smart to Play Hard
- United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) – SNAP-Ed Connection
- - Physical Activity Toolkit for Preschool-Aged Children (English and Spanish)
- United States Department of Health and Human Services (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
- World Health Organization (WHO)