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Nutrition policy and practice changes improve nutrition environments in early childcare centers serving racially and ethnically diverse, low-income children in Broward County, Florida
Methods: To determine the extent to which the county-wide initiative improved the nutrition environments and policies of ECCs, in alignment with Caring for our Children National Health and Safety Performance Standards, we used the nutrition observation and document review portions of the Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation (EPAO) instrument to conduct observations of ECCs as part of a one-group pretest-posttest evaluation design. Our baseline and follow-up data collection consisted of two waves of observations (Spring 2013 and Spring 2014) of the same 18 ECCs by trained EPAO observers.
Results: We found statistically significant improvements in the centers’ overall nutrition environments (p=.040). Specific significant gains were made within centers’ written nutrition policies (p=.033), provisions of fruits and vegetables (p=.035), and nutrition education (.002).
Discussion: The findings from this evaluation support the idea that training early childcare providers in evidence-based nutrition practices can help improve the nutrition environments, policies, and practices of centers serving racially and ethnically diverse, low-income children.
Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programsConduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Learning Objectives:
Explain the value of early childcare centers as arenas for preventing and addressing childhood obesity.
Assess evaluation methods appropriate for determining the effectiveness of interventions seeking to improve nutrition policy and practices in early childcare centers.
Describe an effective nutrition policy and practice intervention within early childcare centers serving racially and ethnically diverse, low-income children.
Keyword(s): Obesity, Child Health Promotion
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am an Assistant Professor of Public Health, and I practice and teach public health program planning and evaluation. I was an evaluator for a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Community Transformation Grant received by the Broward Regional Health Planning Council in Broward County, Florida, in which I led the evaluation of an early childcare center nutrition intervention. Additionally, I am a coauthor on three peer reviewed journal articles reporting childhood obesity research.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.