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First 5 County Profiles
Healthy Beginnings
Healthy Beginnings is a preschool nutrition, physical activity, and anemia prevention program developed through the Shasta County Public Health Department with funding from First 5 Shasta. The program is part of the Healthy Shasta initiative – a broad communitywide partnership to promote healthy and active living among Shasta County residents developed out of concern over increasing rates of childhood obesity and chronic diseases such as type II diabetes. The curriculum has been implemented in preschools across the county and is linked to classes for parents and other activities.
Strengths:
- Could be integrated into an existing curriculum or could used in the home by parents
- Aligned to California's Desired Results for Children and Families
- User-friendly format and language
- Recipes provided for school and home use
- Photographs show specific physical activities, with good variety, clear directions and cultural diversity
- Activities are age-appropriate, simple and fun activities
- Provides ideas on activities inside and outside the classroom
- Culturally diverse taste-testing is included
Limitations:
- Because it was developed as part of a broader initiative, the curriculum doesn’t work as well as an “off the shelf ” resource
- Nutrition and physical activity are both covered, but not integrated
- Not necessarily a stand-alone curriculum, but could easily be integrated into a classroom curriculum
- Not available in Spanish
- No suggested adaptations for variations in culture or ability
Implementation:
- Adaptable to a variety of settings
- Easy to implement without outside training
- Most resources already in the home or easy to make
- Easy to use by individuals of varying educational and professional backgrounds
- Would need an implementation guide to accompany the curriculum (if used outside Shasta County)