Modeling a Healthy Future

Health Standards for a Healthier Child Care Center

Child care centers can create healthy behaviors in children from infancy. Children who have proper nutrition and physical activity from birth to four years of age will be better prepared for success when they begin school.

By implementing changes to improve the health of your employees through our WellSpot Designation program, child care centers can positively impacting the health of the children they serve and even influence the greater community. We support your center by providing the resources and tools you need to encourage healthy habits, such as physical activity, healthy eating, stress management and quitting tobacco. Not only do these activities improve the health of your staff, but by modeling these habits, you are also impacting the health of the children — today and for their future. 

Cindy Viges at Dreamers’ Land DayCare & Learning Center is one of the many child care center owners in Louisiana who has taken the lead in moving the health of her community forward by becoming a WellSpot. Like Cindy, change can begin with you—take the lead in your community today!

Want to implement or expand your worksite wellness program? Eligible WellSpots can receive up to $3,000 to make sustainable changes that support employee health and wellbeing at their worksite.


Level-up Your Child Care Center

Child care centers that meet certain benchmarks can be designated as a Level 1, 2 or 3 WellSpot, with Level 1 being the highest.

Level 3

  • Tobacco-free policy
  • Three additional benchmarks of choice

Level 2

  • Tobacco-free policy
  • Go NAPSACC assessment & action plan
  • Seven additional benchmarks of choice

Level 1

  • Tobacco-free policy
  • All benchmarks met

WellSpot Benchmarks for a Healthier Child Care Center

Well-Ahead is here to help you be a leader by becoming a WellSpot. This designation helps ensure that the children in your care have a healthy environment to learn while at the same time positively impacting the health of your employees. When you implement these evidence-based benchmarks, you will improve the health of your staff and children and move Louisiana’s health forward!


Our Partners


Citations:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Productivity Losses—United States, 2000–2004. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2008;57(45):1226–8. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5745a3.htm

American Lung Association’s State of Tobacco Control Report for Louisiana. Retrieved from: https://www.lung.org/research/sotc/state-grades/louisiana

The Business Case For Breastfeeding. Published in 2008 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Maternal and Child Health Bureau. Retrieved from https://www.womenshealth.gov/breastfeeding/breastfeeding-home-work-and-public/breastfeeding-and-going-back-work/business-case#:~:text=Case%20For%20Breastfeeding-,The%20Business%20Case%20for%20Breastfeeding%20is%20a%20comprehensive%20program%20designed,success%20of%20the%20entire%20business.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Facts About Hypertension in the United States. https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/facts.htm

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Diabetes Quick Facts. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/basics/quick-facts.html

Adult Obesity Rates, State of Childhood Obesity, a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. https://stateofchildhoodobesity.org/adult-obesity/

Pierce KM, Rozier RG, Vann WF. Accuracy of pediatric primary care providers’ screening and referral for early childhood caries. Pediatrics 2002;109(5):E82. Available at : http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/109/5/e82.long