The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
January 6, 2009
Responding to concerns about childhood obesity among pre-school aged children, an Oregon obesity task force is calling for the state Legislature to consider enacting nutrition and physical activity guidelines for children enrolled in day care, the Portland Oregonian reports. Currently, Oregon law stipulates that day care providers must allow children to play, but does not specify for how long or how frequently such activity should take place. However, Oregon is one of only seven states nationwide that require day care providers to limit intake of foods with low nutritional value. The state also requires day care programs to include two servings of fruit or vegetables at each meal.
In an effort to better define and expand existing mandates, a professor at Oregon State University will use a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to design a healthy eating and physical activity program for home-based day care centers in Oregon.