Early Childhood Nutrition Education: Primary Prevention Within Minnesota’s Daycare System

Obesity and lifestyle-related illnesses such as type 2 diabetes mellitus impact thousands of individuals in Minnesota and the United States each year. Response to type 2 diabetes has historically followed a tertiary approach, which is costly, both monetarily and physically, with complicated disease states and needless suffering. Type 2 diabetes is non-discriminatory, and recent evidence suggests that this disease, once called adult-onset diabetes, is now impacting children and adolescents. A paradigm shift is needed to provide primary prevention to the vulnerable childhood population, of which many are statistically indicated to receive a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes in their lifetime. Family nurse practitioners and nurses are one of the most trusted professions; known for health promotion and education. It is the responsibility of current and future family nurse practitioners to recognize the need for primary prevention of type 2 diabetes and obesity-related illnesses and provide holistic care, resources, and education to patients, families, and early childcare providers to improve population health and the safety of future generations. Using Pender’s Health Promotion Theory as a guide, this scholarly project proposed an educational presentation for daycare providers in Minnesota as a means for combating future type 2 diabetes statistics in children, adolescents, and adults