tailieunhanh - Healthy Routines Lead to Healthy Children

Studies have consistently shown that birthweight decreases steadily with decreasing social status. 25 Figure 1 shows this decrease in birthweight between the most privileged and the most deprived socio-economic groups among babies born in 2000 enrolled in the UK Millenium Cohort Study. Mothers living in the most privileged socio-economic group had an average birthweight 200gm heavier than those living in the most disadvantages households (workless households). Similar differences between privileged and deprived areas have been reported from similarly designed studies in the more prosperous area of West Sussex. 26 A difference of 200gm in birthweight between individual children has little. | child care health B connections A HEALTH AND SAFETY NEWSLETTER FOR CALIFORNIA CHILD CARE PROFESSIONALS Published by the California Childcare Health Program CCHP a program of the University of California San Francisco UCSF School of Nursing ------------------4- CALIFORNIA CHILDCARE health program Healthy Routines Lead to Healthy Children What are routines Regular activities that are repeated are called routines. Creating healthy routines for your program will help children grow strong and develop healthy habits. Routines and schedules help children become organized and feel calm about knowing what comes next. Predictable routines also build strong relationships and trust. Routines give children a sense of security that allows them to learn and try new things. By trying new things children learn confidence. Over time routines lay the foundation for life-long habits. How do routines lead to build healthy habits While most adults use clocks to organize their time and the events of the day children use the order of activities to know what comes next. By regularly repeating the order of activities healthy actions turn into healthy habits. Healthy routines in child care programs Morning Health Check Greet each child and his her family warmly each morning. Observe the child for signs of illness ask how the child is feeling and what kind of a night and morning she had. Allow parents to communicate needs priorities and concerns. Physical activity Allow plenty of time for vigorous physical activity. Children who are physically active before meals have a better appetite for nutritious food and drink so plan your day accordingly. And remember that infants need tummy time. Mealtime Serve meals and snacks at regular intervals. If a child is not hungry they know there will be more food served later. Sit with children and participate in conversations with them at mealtime rather than hovering above or running around waiting on them. Healthy Routines continued on page 6 vol. 23 no.