The White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity didn’t waste much time. This week it unveiled a new 120-page plan on how to create a healthier generation of children that included a section on early learning.

The report is packed with information, including a finding that among licensed child care sites in California, Head Start programs had the highest scores on meal quality.

But, this is not another report that only outlines the obesity problem in today’s youth. It also offers solutions and benchmarks, including an endorsement of quality rating improvement systems.

States should be encouraged to strengthen licensing standards and Quality Rating and Improvement Systems to support good program practices regarding nutrition, physical activity, and screen time in early education and child care settings. – “Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity Within a Generation: White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity Report to the President.”

The report is full of alarming findings that should spark action among educators and parents, such as that approximately one in five children are obese by the time they turn six.

Other findings include:

• “Between 1980 and 2001, the prevalence of overweight infants under six months almost doubled, from 3.4 (percent) to 5.9 (percent).”
• “Maternal smoking during early pregnancy is associated with a 500% greater risk of obesity at age 5, and a 260% greater risk at ages 9-10.
• “Many women return to work soon after their baby’s birth, yet 75% of employers do not offer accommodations for them to breastfeed or express milk at work.”

(See the report for footnotes.)

Early Ed Getting More Funding?  U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan suggests the Obama administration may have more money coming for early learning.

“We were hoping in higher education, Bill, to have a significant influx of resources for early childhood education. That didn't happen. But we're going to actually going to reconfigure our proposed FY11 budget to put a lot more money in there.” – Secy. Duncan on NPR’s Talk of the Nation, 4/19/10.

This will be a busy week with tomorrow’s release of the 2009 State of Preschool – a comprehensive report on how U.S. preschools fared last year – news from the Pediatric Academic Societies’ annual meeting and other development.  (Check back tomorrow for our take on the State of Preschool and links to other analysis.)

In the meantime, grab your afternoon cup of coffee or glass of water and check out the latest developments in early learning:

Fodder for Early Learning Supporters: As the debate over early learning picks up in Congress, Preschool California has published a useful summary of the benefits of quality early education.

The fact sheet is full of helpful graphics on lower incarceration and special education placement rates, brain development and cost-benefit analysis.

It should come in handy during the debate over No Child Left Behind.

Vaccine Safety: Vaccines are big steps in early learning, helping to keep children healthy and in school, yet the safety of shots emerged as a hot and sometimes misunderstood topic among parents in recent years.

 A new documentary “The Vaccine War” entered the discussion last week, trying to sort out the competing and often fighting sides in this public health debate that extends far beyond early education.

I have not yet watched the PBS Frontline show, though I hope to this week. If you are like me and have little free time, start with the website,  where you can watch the show online, view individual interviews and observe or engage the debate.

Bullying & Obesity:  Parents of obese children say bullying is their number one health concern, and now it appears obese children have higher odds of being bullied, according to a report released today by Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“Obese children had higher odds of being bullied no matter their gender, race, family socioeconomic status, school demographic profile, social skills or academic achievement.” – Pediatrics.

Further Reading: “Bullies Target Obese Kids: Being overweight is prime factor regardless of race, family income, study finds.” HealthDay, via U.S. News & World Report.

First Lady Michelle Obama gave the fight against childhood obesity a major boost when she took a leading role last month, and one of the places she may want to focus on is preschool, the National Institute for Early Education Research suggests this week.

While parents may think preschool is a place where their kids race around, run and play, a study found students engaged in “moderate to vigorous exercise” only 3.4 percent of their day at preschool. Granted, there are other things to do beyond run around outside, but the level found in the Children’s Activity and Movement in Preschools Study seems way too low.

Researchers also highlighted one of my favorite topics: well-designed open spaces in early learning. They found open space, fixed equipment, ball and object use “are associated with high levels of moderate to vigorous physical activity.” – Preschool’s Role in Fighting Childhood Obesity. 3/9/10.

“In view of the high levels of sedentary activity observed, the researchers call for careful attention in designing outdoor spaces for preschoolers. Designs should include sufficient open spaces and specific outdoor play materials associated with increased levels of physical activity.”— Preschool’s Role in Fighting Childhood Obesity.

What are parents noticing at their preschools? Are your kids getting enough exercise? The story is short and worth checking out.

Child Care Economics in the News: Another writer tackled one of my other favorite topics in The economics of child care: Why do long waiting lists persist?The story offers reasons why child care doesn’t fit the supply-and-demand model from Ohio State University professor David Blau, who edited a book entitled The Economics of Child Care. The reasons include the idea that many child care services are not run as typical businesses and that many parents “aren't willing to pay a premium for high-quality child care…,” according to the Vancouver Sun article. It is another easy read worth checking out.

Researchers found a few basic steps were associated with battling one of the nation’s health concerns, childhood obesity. Preschoolers who got enough sleep, watched limited amounts of television and regularly ate dinner with their families had a lower prevalence of obesity.

In fact, preschoolers who had all three habits were found to have “a roughly 40 percent lower prevalence of obesity than those exposed to none of these routines,” according to an article published today in Pediatrics, the research journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. (You can read a summary here.)

Now, preschool teachers will tell you each of these habits likely helps in plenty of other ways, concentration and social skills for example. In this sense, the report is one more reason adequate sleep, a healthy diet and limits on media consumption are elements of quality preschool.

But, how much TV, sleep and family eating are enough?

The latest research offers one idea.

In the study, children who got 10.5 hours of sleep a night, ate dinner with their families more than 5 nights a week and watched 2 hours or less of television a day were in the healthier group.

Since we know these are all healthy habits, it is also interesting to see how many families actually follow these rules. Researchers found one in seven children were in families who had these habits, while one in eight had none.

They also pointed out they found this association in both high-income and poor homes and in homes where the mother was obese. We should clarify this study didn’t make a causal link, but said findings offer “promising behavioral targets.”

News and Notes: Birth to Five Policy has a cool new website. Check it out here.

The success of early learning efforts depends on healthy students, but if children are not eating right it seems likely the odds they will struggle in classrooms will rise. The problem? There hasn’t been progress in reducing childhood obesity among poor preschoolers in recent years.

The percentage of obese preschool-aged students remained stuck at roughly 14.6 percent from 2003 to 2008, after spiking from 12.4 percent in 1998, the Centers for Disease Control reported.

This is important on a variety of levels. If we want to get children from low-income families onto the same academic footing as other students by kindergarten they should be ready to learn in preschool, and good nutrition is a building block of school readiness.

Plus, obesity in preschool is often a red flag that warns of future problems, the CDC warns.

“Childhood obesity continues to be a leading public health concern that disproportionately affects low-income and minority children. Children who are obese in their preschool years are more likely to be obese in adolescence and adulthood and to develop diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, asthma, and sleep apnea.” – “Obesity Prevalence Among Low-Income, Preschool-Aged Children – United States, 1998—2008,” July, 2009.  (See full text for footnotes.)

I began thinking about the importance of nutrition in early learning after reading an excellent story on MSNBC.com today, “Day care next frontier in fighting kids' obesity: 'Elementary school is too late,' say proponents of fledgling movement.

The Associated Press article points out few states have nutrition and physical activity requirements for child care facilities. (Check out the full story. It is a quick and information-packed read.)

This isn’t surprising because you don’t often hear nutrition mentioned in debates over how to boost quality in child care and at preschools. I know the topic is on the minds of educators and advocates, but perhaps with more than 14 percent of preschoolers obese it deserves a higher profile.

Monday opened on a depressing note, with a new report saying the Great Recession will wipe out advances in “children’s economic well-being” made over the last 33 years and reduce the number of kids in pre-kindergarten.

The recession will push the percentage of children living in poverty to 21 percent next year, up from 17 percent in 2006, cut families’ median annual income to $55,700 and move the obesity rate among children even higher, the Foundation for Child Development reports today.

The recession “will affect their health and educational attainment,” Kenneth Land, project coordinator and director of Duke University’s Center for Population Health and Aging, said in a statement. “The fact that we may actually reverse hard-won gains made over the last 35 years is alarming.”

For early learning advocates one of the biggest concerns is the report’s suggestion that pre-k enrollment may fall, as families struggle with lower incomes, job losses and budget cuts.

“The result will be that the children who are not involved in high quality
PreK programs today will become below-basic performers on Fourth, Eighth, and Twelfth Grade tests in the future,” the foundation said in a summary.  “Now, in the maelstrom of this current recession, is the time to protect children’s educational futures.”

The Child Well-Being Index report also said the historic economic contraction will hit children of color hardest.

“When the economy is doing well, their well-being gains are more dramatic. When the economy slumps, they are harder hit than their white counterparts because more children of color live in poverty to begin with,” Ruby Takanishi, president of the research and advocacy foundation, said in a press release, referring to Latino and African American children.

You can read the Reuters story here and the full report here.

We had plenty of early education news again this week, with reports on inequality, obesity in preschool, how to get kids to behave and slow parenting.

• The Inequities of Early Childhood Education

“America’s decentralized and deregulated system of early childhood education fosters “huge inequities” in the quality of and access to preschool programs, according Sharon Lynn Kagan, Associate Dean for Policy and Co-director of the National Center for Children and Families.

Speaking at a forum of The Campaign for Educational Equity at Teachers College on April 6, Kagan said that the nation’s early childhood system is vastly different than that of K-12 education in that it lacks an overarching governance structure, a guaranteed funding stream, and even requirements for professional certification for those who teach the youngest children—all of which has led to widely varying levels of quality and access.

‘Ultimately, when well done, early childhood education can reduce inequities,’ Kagan said. ‘The concern that we all have is that in the haste to get money out the door, in the haste to get programs up and running, in the haste of policymakers trying to make a mark for themselves, what is happening is not necessarily well-done programs, and so rather than alleviate inequities they perpetuate them.’” -- The Teachers College, 4/8/09.

• Playing Nice: Teachers Learn to Help Kids Behave in School

“Behavior problems among small children are a growing issue. The possible causes are many: pressure on teachers to stress math and reading over emotional skills; family instability; a decline in playtime; heavy use of child care; or a rise in learning problems such as attention-deficit disorder.”
…

“But now, some novel teaching programs are showing great promise in solving the behavior problems, and perhaps in reducing ADD diagnoses. By giving children more time for dramatic or pretend play, and by building into the school day more lessons in self control, researchers are seeing both big reductions in bad behavior, and gains in cognitive skills”. – Wall Street Journal, Work & Family, 4/8/09.

• Among Pre-schoolers, 1 in 5 is Obese – Associated Press 4/6/09, via MSNBC.com.
  
  
• Need Stimulus Spending Ideas? Think Early Childhood

  “But (Education Secretary Arne) Duncan said the stimulus offers an ‘unprecedented’ opportunity to continue preschool investments, through the stabilization funds and increased funding of Title I and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. ‘I firmly believe high quality early childhood programs is an economic stimulus package,’ he told the press, and said he would continue to use the bully pulpit to argue in favor of this investment. – Politics K-12 blog, Education Week, 4/8/09

• What is Slow-Parenting?

“To me, Slow parenting is about bringing balance into the home. Children need to strive and struggle and stretch themselves, but that does not mean childhood should be a race. Slow parents give their children plenty of time and space to explore the world on their own terms. They keep the family schedule under control so that everyone has enough downtime to rest, reflect and just hang out together. They accept that bending over backwards to give children the best of everything may not always be the best policy. Slow parenting means allowing our children to work out who they are rather than what we want them to be”. – Motherlode Q&A with author Carl Honoré, New York Times, 4/8/09.


(I know this is not directly focused on early learning policies, but it is definitely related. Plus, I support slow parenting as a parent and find it fascinating and important as a journalist.)

• Stress of Poverty Hurts Early Brain Development and Memory, New Research Suggests
  
  
• Preschools Made Impressive Gains in 2008 that Recession May Wash Away