Next, agree on a set of strategies. Everyone in the organization needs to feel a part of a comprehensive solution to this problem. Administrators, teachers, cooks, children, and families all can play a valuable role in brainstorming ideas and implementing strategies to assist children in all of the identified areas. Your initiative to address childhood obesity is more likely to be successful if all the players are committed to the same goals.

Strategy #1:
Review and perhaps revamp your menus.

• Do your menus reflect the guidelines for healthy food choices in the USDA Food Guide Pyramid for Young Children Ages 2- to 6-years-old for both snacks and meals? Send for the latest revision of this valuable resource.
• Are whole grains incorporated in your breads and cereals?
• Have you eliminated transfatty acids from your menu items?
• Have you included the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables?
• Is drinking water available?
• Is the recommended number of dairy servings included in your menus?
• Are sugary snacks kept to a minimum?
• Do your menus reflect the cultural and ethnic diversity of your families?
• Do children experience first-hand the variety of healthy food choices available?

Strategy #2:
Get your cook involved.

• Your cook can be a valuable asset in helping to adapt menu choices that are healthy and enjoyable for children.
• Your cook's attitude of optimism and pleasure in serving a well-prepared meal positively influences children's perceptions of healthy food choices.
• Encourage and implement family-style food service on a consistent basis. Family- style food service can encourage more than social-emotional skills. In the relaxed atmosphere of "dining" with their teacher and fellow classmates, children are offered wonderful "teachable moments" that encourage healthy food choices and nutrition lessons.
• Be aware that family-style food service requires more work in putting menu items in child-size bowls and usually more utensils to wash.
• When cooks know and understand the needs of young children in relation to mealtime, it is easier to implement family-style food service.

It is always amazing to me when parents comment about the fact that their child never eats green beans at home but will at school. Teachers who model great habits are the best way to get children to make good choices.

Strategy #3:
Always have water available to children in the classroom and outdoors.

• Children and adults need water for good digestion and to maintain hydration of bodily fluids.
• Children also need water for healthy brain development during these early years.

Strategy #4:
Facilitate teacher planning.

• Teachers can design curriculum experiences to enrich the classroom environment, as well as integrate developmental skills and concepts into the learning activities.
• Set up mentoring teams with new teachers.
• With the help of parents and teachers, create prop boxes for healthy food choices and physical activities.
• Establish an area in your center where shared resources can be checked out to use in your classrooms.

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