Effect of intervention on the nutrition and physical activity practices in child care centers in an ethnically diverse urban area of Los Angeles County (LAC). Preliminary findings

Background: In Los Angeles County (LAC) 40% of children ages 0-5 spend most of their day in child care. The highest rate of childhood obesity is in the south central area of Los Angeles. Objective: To assess the effect of intervention on the nutrition and physical activity policies and practices in child care centers (CCC) in south central Los Angeles. Methods: We assessed the nutrition and physical activity environment using the Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation (EPAO) instrument. Data was collected by trained research staff. CCCs were randomized to three study groups: no intervention limited (material distribution) and complete intervention (material as well as an in-person education session). Nutrition and physical activity practices were measured pre and 6- month post intervention. Results: In 57 CCC, a mean of 14 children (Range: 5-75) were present during the observation day. The children were 2-6 years old. There were no significant differences between the study groups in the nutritional and physical activity scores measured at baseline (p>0.05). Significant differences between the three groups were found in the total nutrition score post-intervention (p=0.005) and remained significant in the multivariate analysis after adjusting for the baseline nutrition score (p=0.005). No significant differences between study groups were found in physical activity scores after intervention (p=0.07) and after adjusting for the baseline physical activity score in the multivariate model (p=0.13). Conclusion: The findings indicate that the intervention had a positive impact on the nutrition practices in the child care centers but not on physical activity practices.