Nutrition and Children

Washington state childcare licensing regulations for food are fairly thorough, the regulations account for everything from what types of milk you may or may not serve to children, to approved food sources, to what type of utensils and dishes you may use. The design behind these regulations is to help support centers and schools in caring for children by giving them basic mandatory standards to follow, in order to be licensed.

Washington States regulations for food in schools and centers for children are better than some, there are for instance fast food chains and vending machines inside at least some public schools in other states. The regulations in Washington state help to limit the use of fast food in facilities, but even that is not perfect, sometimes centers and schools just don't have the necessary funding in order to always provide the healthiest options, they do the best they can with limited funding, many programs and schools source natural and local products, sometimes however, natural and local either aren't readily available or aren't readily affordable, and those programs in that position make the best out of their situations and provide the healthiest options possible.

There is always room for improvement though, I hope to continue to see progress in our food programs for children overall in the years to come.