Healthy Drinks, Healthy Kids: Bottoms Up - Helping Parents Make Informed Child Hydration Decisions

This webinar was presented live on August 23, 2022. The CPE associated with this activity expires on May 31, 2024.

Establishing healthy beverage patterns in early life is critical to ensure adequate nutrient intake and promote overall health, but national survey data indicate that young children's beverage intakes diverge from recommendations. Some evidence-based recommendations about beverages for young children (what to drink, how much, and when to introduce) are inconsistent, and there are an increasing variety of milks, juice beverages, and other "functional" beverages in the marketplace. This leads to confusion among parents and caregivers about what young children should drink.

Healthy Eating Research (HER), a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, convened an expert panel of representatives from key national health and nutrition organizations (including the Academy) to develop a consensus statement and technical report on what young children 0-5 years old should be drinking as part of a healthy diet. This session will present the expert panel's recommendations and their rationale, along with strategies for RDNs to incorporate the recommendations into practice.

This free webinar was supported by Healthy Eating Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

CPEU: 1.0
CPE: 2

Performance Indicators:

• 8.1.1 Interprets and applies evidence-based literature and standards for determining nutritional needs of target audiences.
• 9.3.1 Critically reviews and selects materials from credible sources to support the development of diet and nutrition education resources.
• 12.3.1 Designs programs, interventions, or initiatives based on assessment and surveillance data and evidence-based literature.

Learning Objectives

• Describe beverage intake patterns of 0 to 5-year-olds in the United States, including disparities by race/ethnicity and income levels.
• Explain the expert panel’s recommendations for what children ages 0-5 should and shouldn’t be drinking as part of a healthy diet.
• Apply the expert panel’s recommendations for healthy beverage intake to patient and client settings and to environmental and policy initiatives to improve public health.

Speakers

Megan Lott, MPH, RDN

Megan Lott, MPH, RDN, serves as deputy director for Healthy Eating Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation based at Duke University in Durham, NC. HER supports research on policy, systems and environmental approaches to improve healthy eating, food security and reduce obesity among children. Megan is a registered dietitian with a B.S. in Nutrition Sciences and dietetics from the University of Cincinnati and a Master's in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Kirsten Arm, MPH, RDN

Kirsten Arm, MPH, RDN, serves as research analyst for Healthy Eating Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation based at Duke University in Durham, NC. In this role, Kirsten supports and disseminates research on policy, systems and environmental strategies that promote healthy eating among children and advances nutrition and health equity. Kirsten is a registered dietitian nutritionist and holds a B.S. in Community-Medical Dietetics from Viterbo University and a Master of Public Health in Nutrition from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities.