Use of the Sesame Street Healthy Habits for Life Resource Kit Among License-Exempt Childcare Providers

This pilot study utilizes the Sesame Street Healthy Habits for Life resource kit, a bilingual, prevention-focused intervention aimed at helping children ages 2-5 and their caregivers to establish an early foundation of healthy nutrition and physical activity habits.

The study included 53 license-exempt childcare providers (43% monolingual Spanish-speaking) who care for children in non-traditional settings such as their homes, randomly assigned to an intervention (n=30) or comparison (n=23) group. The intervention period was approximately 2 months, included a pre and post-test, and follow-up survey at 3 months post-intervention.

The objectives were to: 1) Enhance the training of license-exempt childcare providers by providing additional resources on nutrition and physical activity, 2) Increase their knowledge and skills by improving their ability to support children's physical well-being; and 3) improving their ability to support changes in their own lifestyle.

At the end of two months, users of the kit reported that their level of understanding about healthy foods and foods high in fat, sugar and salt significantly increased, compared to nonusers of the kit. Similarly, their level of understanding about body signals (i.e. when their body is hungry or full from eating) increased. Kit users also reported discussing more often the benefits of nutrition and physical activity with children under their care. They also reported a significant increase in their level of physical activity, as well as a significant decrease in body mass index.

These findings demonstrate the potential efficacy of the Sesame Street resource kit among license-exempt childcare providers.