Daycare centers in Colorado are helping to lead the way in cutting down on snacks with high sugar content.

Plus, they are going to limit the amount of screen time, increase the amount of physical activity, and even could be serving fresh fruits and vegetables to the little ones they look after.

According to Healthier Colorado, old rules prevented daycare facilities without a commercial grade kitchen from serving any fresh foods because of a fear for the cleanliness of the food. While that is pretty good looking out, as they stated on their website, most in home daycare facilities are clean enough to be able to give fresh fruits to the kids they watch after.

These proposed rule changes are a common-sense way to fight childhood obesity without unduly burdening child care facilities. They will hardly cost child care centers any money to implement, but they will have a substantial, measurable impact on the health of our youngest residents. Nearly a third of Colorado kids ages two to four are overweight or obese – but kids this age who are exposed to fresh produce, whole grains, lean meats, and beans, and who stay away from sugar-sweetened beverages, are significantly less likely to be overweight, and are more likely to grow up to eat a healthy diet as adults. Moreover, our young kids are spending far too much time staring at screens, and not enough time exercising and playing outdoors. Nationwide, kids only get four to seven minutes of unstructured outdoor play per day – but they spend a whopping seven to ten hours every day staring at a screen, watching TV or playing video games. These proposed rule changes are a simple way to limit our kids’ exposure to unhealthy sugary drinks, increase their exposure to healthy fresh foods, and ensure that they develop healthy exercise habits. Shouldn’t we want that for the future of our state?

Now, as the video clarifies, it's not that kids aren't allowed to have sugary drinks. If they so choose, parents can send their kids with whatever drink they want, including soda or sugary juice. The new rules stipulate that the daycare centers can not be the ones to provide them.

If, as the video shows, they may be switching to dairy milk as a healthy alternative, they are still on the wrong track. However, this is great progress in an effort to cut down on childhood problems like obesity and diabetes.

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