Standard 5: NAEYC Accreditation Criteria for Health Standard

Program Standard: The program promotes the nutrition and health of children and protects children and staff from illness and injury.

Rationale: To benefit from education and maintain quality of life, children need to be as healthy as possible. Health is a state of complete physical, oral, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (World Health Organization 1948). Children depend on adults (who also are as healthy as possible) to make healthy choices for them and to teach them to make healthy choices for themselves. Although some degree of risk taking is desirable for learning, a quality program prevents hazardous practices and environments that are likely to result in adverse consequences for children, staff, families, or communities.

Within each of the 10 NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards are topic areas that highlight the big ideas to more fully express the meaning and value of the standard. Each topic area includes criteria that further define the meaning of quality in that area. The topic areas are identified by letters (A, B, C, etc.). The number of topic areas within a standard varies. The following chart presents the topic areas for this standard. Click on the topic area to link to the accreditation criteria.

Topic area

5.A.
Promoting and Protecting Children’s Health and Controlling Infectious Disease

5.B.
Ensuring Children’s Nutritional Well-being

5.C.
Maintaining a Healthful Environment