Health Promotion: A New Leadership Role for Early Childhood Professionals

Abstract

This article argues that there is a need to articulate the link between concepts of health promotion and the early childhood tradition of quality care, and to establish child care centres as settings for health promotion. The World Health Organisation notion of health promotion is used to describe an approach to health which includes not only the absence of disease but also the facilitation of practices and the maintenance of environments which promote the wellbeing of children, families, staff, and community. The authors contrast the literature about health in child care settings with their findings from a recent study of health-related practices in centres in New South Wales. The review of the literature revealed predominantly cautionary information about child care usage, focusing on ways to minimise the spread of infectious diseases. In contrast, the research findings showed that, except for two areas (parent participation and community collaboration), health promoting activities are common and widespread within child care centres. The authors conclude that, through dissemination of appropriate information about quality child care, and with a change in attitude by health professionals, child care centres can become significant players—indeed leaders—in the area of health promotion.