From left: Angela Hanenkratt, Ann Miller (owner), Abbey Edwards, Cheri Collins and Amanda Burtch
Ann’s Bright Beginnings proudly announces their recent award as an Ohio Healthy Program! Ohio Healthy Programs is an OCCRRA (Ohio Child Care Resource and Referral Association) program funded by the Ohio Department of Health. This designation is a state earned honor.
Ohio Healthy Programs was created in response to the growing concern surrounding childhood obesity, as well as general unhealthy practices that have resulted in health professionals acknowledging that children may now have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. The program recognizes the vital role early educators can play in helping children develop healthy habits, especially in the areas of nutrition and physical activity that can last a lifetime.
As part of earning this designation, the staff at Ann’s Bright Beginnings took numerous hours of training and worked one on one with a Health Promotion Consultant to enhance the health of their preschool setting. They developed new and valuable healthy policies in the areas of snacks, packed lunches and drinks, with the ultimate goal being to make healthy eating and physical activity fun and enjoyable.
“It’s not about punishing kids by taking their sugary foods away or forcing them to eat vegetables – it’s about providing healthy foods in a fun way and talking about them in a way that kids WANT to try them and grow to like them in a natural way,” says Ann Miller, owner and director of Ann’s Bright Beginnings, “One of the additions we are most proud of is Try Me Wednesday, where we bring in foods like asparagus, starfruit, kiwi, spinach and whole grain crackers. The children all get to try them – we talk about colors, shapes, textures, flavors, likes and dislikes. The kids love it. There’s both learning going on plus exposure to all this great food!”
Ohio Healthy Programs also identifies parents and families as the first line caregivers of the children so creating a family interaction activity is an important requirement of becoming an Ohio Healthy Program. “We couldn’t do it without our families, continues Miller. We no longer have sugar drinks on our menu and our preschool parents are packing great, healthy choices for their children! They do a fantastic job! It is very gratifying to see the children getting excited about eating healthier, which in turn of course, makes their young bodies stronger! ”
Ann’s Bright Beginnings earned their Ohio Healthy Programs designation for one year. At the end of this time, they will develop additional health policies and continue their work with families to renew their award.
