Making Healthier Food More Accessible

At Jump IN, one of our focus areas is early childhood education.  Very young children who learn healthy habits around nutrition and physical activity are more likely to be at a healthy weight as they get older.  Conversely, preschoolers who are overweight or obese are five times more likely to become overweight or obese as adults.  Equally troubling, the prevalence of obesity among U.S. preschoolers has doubled in recent decades and keeps getting worse.  

Child care providers tell us that they would prefer to serve healthy food in their centers and homes, but the expense is a constant barrier.  We are always working to find lower-cost ways to access healthy food, and we have a resource we are happy to share, the Healthier Generation Store with Amazon Business.  It’s an online marketplace for purchasing food that meets CACFP (Child and Adult Care Food Program) guidelines.  The Store currently stocking non-perishables and plans to expand to produce, meat and dairy, to eventually be a full-service store for child care providers. Because it’s available across the country, it offers lower prices and free delivery anywhere with a minimum $25 purchase.  And because it’s connected to Amazon, providers can add on to their order other items they may need, also for delivery – everything that Amazon offers.  

Last week, Jump IN for Healthy Kids partnered with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and Amazon to present a training webinar for child care providers to use the online marketplace.  You can watch the webinar here.  It lasts about an hour. 

Do you have tips and tools for keeping food quality high but food costs low?  We’d like to hear about them.   You can share your ideas with Megan McKinney Cooper, Jump IN’s communications director, right here.   

 Have a great weekend and don’t forget your 5-2-1-0, every day!