Promoting a Healthy Smile for Young Children
Katrina Holt is the director of the National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center where she works to improve oral health services for pregnant women, infants, children, and adolescents, including those with special health care needs, and their families. The center collaborates with federal agencies and professional organizations to provide technical assistance, training and resources.
How did you begin your career in early childhood?
My career working in early childhood began in public health settings, including health departments, community and refugee clinics, shelters for battered women and their children, and other community-based programs that provided health care to children. I also worked part-time as a dietitian in Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) clinics conducting nutrition risk assessments and providing nutrition education to pregnant women and parents of children, and as a Head Start nutrition consultant providing training and technical assistance to Head Start program staff. Working in community-based programs focusing on the prevention and early intervention of disease and the promotion of health solidified my commitment to serving the early childhood population.
What efforts have you been involved in to improve the quality of early childhood programs and services?
Since 1998, I’ve been director of the National [...]