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By Dagny Stuart | Photography by Anne Rayner
The TC4 childhood action team decided to create learning modules on several cancer topics – including nutrition – all aimed at young children in day care centers.
Faces bright and eyes shining, groups of 4- and 5- year-old preschoolers take turns dipping their fingers into bags of cereal, marshmallow and raisins, and furiously mixing the colorful concoction to create a scrumptious and nutritious trail mix.
These “cooking classes” at the Northside Baptist Church Preschool in Rutherford County, Tenn., – and at several other preschools and day cares throughout Middle Tennessee – are part of an effort to teach these youngsters about the link between healthy food and healthy living and to provide tools that may help them reduce their risk of cancer later in life.
The Day Care Centers of Excellence Program is the brainchild of members of the Tennessee Comprehensive Cancer Control Coalition (TC4), a statewide organization dedicated to reducing the burden of cancer in the state. The Coalition is an organization of more than 400 health care professionals, volunteers, scientists, cancer survivors, family members and anyone who is interested in the subject of cancer in Tennessee. In addition to the statewide leadership structure, the Coalition is organized into five regional planning groups.
In Middle Tennessee, the Coalition wanted to target their message of prevention to young children.
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