CACFP Health Benefits Stretch Beyond Nutrition
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CACFP’s Role in Physical Activity and Reducing Screen Time
The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is a federal child nutrition program through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The CACFP ensures millions of children and thousands of older adults and adults with disabilities receive the nutritious meals they need to thrive. The program is well known for the high-quality meals it provides and the long-term benefits it has for children’s health. Less well known, but just as important, is how the health benefits of the CACFP extend beyond diet and branch into physical activity and screen time as well.
The National School Lunch Act (NSLA), which governs the CACFP, encourages participating child care programs to provide daily opportunities for physical activity and to limit the use of electronic media.[i] Physical activity and screen time limits are two of the domains under the High-Impact Obesity Prevention Standards (HIOPS) created by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Physical Activity
Studies have found that when children are physically active, they have more positive physical, cognitive and psychosocial health outcomes. CACFP providers, on average, meet or exceed the HIOPs for physical activity.[ii] The HIOPS recommends that child care programs provide children 2 to 3 opportunities for physical activity, with two of those being outdoors when the weather permits, each day. In the Second Study of Nutrition and Activity in Child Care Settings (SNACS-II), USDA found that children in CACFP child care programs had, on average, four opportunities for physical activity each day, three being outdoors and one being indoors.[iii] SNACS-II observed child care programs offering 123 minutes of physical activity each day, exceeding the 90-120 minutes recommended by the HIOPS.
Over seventy-seven percent of child care programs took infants outside at least once a day. In addition, more than eighty-five percent of child care programs offered at least one opportunity for infants to participate in supervised tummy time each day, meeting HIOPS recommendations.
Screen Time
Screen time can have negative effects on children’s health and development, and the CDC has four HIOPS for screen time limitations.[iv] The most recent study of screen time in CACFP settings was through the USDA’s first Study of Nutrition and Activity in Child Care Settings (SNACS) published in 2021. Screen time was not included in the SNACS-II evaluation.[v]
In SNACS, a majority of child care programs did not expose children to any screen time during the day. While forty-three percent of child care programs did have screens on for an average of sixty-two minutes a day, SNACS did not distinguish between when screen time was used for educational versus entertainment purposes.
Although the primary purpose of the CACFP is to provide nutritious meals that improve the diet quality of children and adults in care, the health benefits of the program reach beyond nutrition. The CACFP also aims to increase children’s physical activity and reduce screen time, which improves the overall health of young children. While these two goals are not regulatory requirements within the CACFP, operators of the program do implement procedures that meet current scientific recommendations. Children in CACFP receive multiple opportunities for physical activity each day and are exposed to a limited amount of screen time, creating a better overall environment for their health and development.
References
[i] Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act
[ii] HIOPS for Physical Activity (2024). U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[iii] Forrestal, Sarah, Maria Boyle, Rachel Bleiweiss-Sande, Rebecca Franckle, Mindy Hu, Jennifer Kali, Theresa Neelan, and Katherine Niland (2025). Second Study of Nutrition and Activity in Child Care Settings: Summary of Findings. Report submitted to the Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Chicago, IL: Mathematica, July 2025.
[iv] HIOPS for Screen Time Limits(2024). U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[v] Logan C, Connor P, LeClair L, et al. (2021). Study of Nutrition and Activity in Child Care Settings: Summary of Findings. Prepared by Abt Associates, Contract No. AG-3198-C-14-0017. Alexandria, VA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Policy Support, Project Officer: Alice Ann H. Gola. Available online at: www.fns.usda.gov/research-and-analysis