As more and more children are placed in child care facilities, there is a growing concern that spending a good part of their day in these communal conditions significantly impacts their health. However, the health and safety of these children is often left to state and local human resources departments which are not equipped to deal effectively with the environmental or personal health issues that affect children in day care centers. This presentation will inform environmental health specialists and administrators why comprehensive regulations are needed to ensure a safe and healthy environment for children in a day care center and how to create them. Upon completion of this session, each participant will be able to return to their local health department jurisdiction with the necessary tools to incorporate comprehensive child care center regulations into their environmental health program.
Representatives of United Way Success by 6 and Childcare Resources, non-profit organizations with much child care experience, met with JCDH environmental health specialists and disease control epidemiologists for a year to develop the new regulations.
This is a timely issue for all parents, guardians, and grandparents, as our society has utilized more and more the services provided by child day care centers.
An interesting topic, as many parents are working longer hours and childcare often falls to people untrained in environmental health. I wonder if we need these guidelines in our area. Sounds good.
ReplyDeleteYes, training of child care center employees is important. In fact, one the important requirements of our regulations is that employees shall receive what we call "Health and Safety Training" for general employees. In addition, our child care center regulations point to the rules for food establishment sanitation that incorporate the FDA Food Code and to our local food handler training regulations for those employees who will prepare food.
DeleteThis is amazing! Our county suffers from poor childhood nutrition and lack of physical activity which ultimately leads to childhood obesity. I would love to gather more information on this topic!
ReplyDeleteWe developed our Regulations for the Construction, Operation and Maintenance of Child Care Centers here at the Jefferson County Department of Health with money we received from a multi-million dollar Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) grant to tackle obesity and tobacco use—two leading preventable causes of death and disability in the United States. We, therefore, put into our regulations a fair amount of attention to these two issues.
DeleteIt is amazing the far reaching efforts of environmental health. As environmental health professionals we would greatly benefit from this topic concerning our most precious assets - our children. We MUST provide them an environment in which they can grow and thrive and become productive/healthy citizens within our comminuty.
ReplyDeleteWhat an innovative approach to public health!! The inclusion of health regulations such as identifying lead hazards and collecting water samples for lead, nutrition, tobacco use and employee health policy has been vital for childcare facilities. Due to the additional training staff in these facilities are more aware of health and safety issues that provide a more conducive atmosphere for learning for children who attend. This model should be duplicated by other states as an ideal public health practice.
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