Best Practices

Children spend most of their day in early care and education programs, because of this, child care providers are in a unique role to help the children they serve develop healthy habits. By taking voluntary steps to put into action Florida’s HEROs best practices to create a healthy environment, you can help the kids you serve develop lifelong healthy habits. The Florida’s HEROs best practices come from the second edition of Preventing Childhood Obesity in Early Care and Education Program, which are a part of the comprehensive Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards; Guidelines for Early Care and Education Programs, Third Edition (CFOC, 3rd Ed.). These are the newest set of national standards describing evidence-based best practices in nutrition, physical activity, and screen time for early care and education programs. Experts in the field of obesity prevention and child health from the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Public Health Association, and National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education developed these standards. These standards were developed for ALL types of early care and education settings – centers and family child care homes.