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Improving the nutrition and screen time environment through self-assessment in family childcare homes in Nebraska

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2018

Dipti A Dev*
Affiliation:
Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, 135 Home Economics Building, Lincoln, NE 68588-0236, USA
Natalie Williams
Affiliation:
Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, 135 Home Economics Building, Lincoln, NE 68588-0236, USA
Iheoma Iruka
Affiliation:
HighScope Educational Research Foundation, Ypsilanti, MI, USA
Aileen S Garcia
Affiliation:
Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, 135 Home Economics Building, Lincoln, NE 68588-0236, USA
Yage Guo
Affiliation:
Department of Educational Psychology, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA
Irina Patwardhan
Affiliation:
Boys Town National Research Institute, Boys Town, NE, USA
Katrina Cummings
Affiliation:
Department of Education, Simpson College, Indianola, IA, USA
Zainab Rida
Affiliation:
Nebraska Department of Education, Lincoln, NE, USA
Emily Hulse
Affiliation:
Teach a Kid to Fish, Lincoln, NE, USA
Ami Sedani
Affiliation:
Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Lincoln, NE, USA
*
*Corresponding author: Email ddev2@unl.edu
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Abstract

Objective

To determine if family childcare homes (FCCH) in Nebraska meet best practices for nutrition and screen time, and if focusing on nutrition and screen time policies and practices improves the FCCH environment.

Design

A pre–post evaluation was conducted using the Go Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Childcare (Go NAP SACC).

Setting

FCCH in Nebraska, USA.

Subjects

FCCH enrolled in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP; n 208) participated in a pre–post evaluation using Go NAP SACC.

Results

At baseline, all FCCH met the minimum childcare standards for fifty-four of fifty-six practices in nutrition and screen time. After the intervention, FCCH demonstrated significant improvement in fourteen of the forty-four Child Nutrition items and eleven of the twelve Screen Time items. However, FCCH providers did not meet best practices at post-intervention. Lowest scores were found in serving meals family-style, promoting visible support for healthy eating, planned nutrition education and written policy on child nutrition. For screen time, lowest scores were reported on the availability of television, offering families education on screen time and having a written policy on screen time.

Conclusions

FCCH in Nebraska were able to strengthen their policies and practices after utilizing Go NAP SACC. Continued professional development and participation in targeted interventions may assist programmes in sustaining improved practices and policies. Considering the varying standards and policies surrounding FCCH, future studies comparing the current findings with childcare centres and non-CACFP programmes are warranted.

Information

Type
Research paper
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2018 
Figure 0

Table 1 Scores on Child Nutrition items at pre-test and post-test among family childcare homes (n 208) participating in the Go Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Childcare (Go NAP SACC) programme, Nebraska, USA, August 2014–October 2017

Figure 1

Table 2 Scores on Screen Time items at pre-test and post-test among family childcare homes (n 208) participating in the Go Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Childcare (Go NAP SACC) programme, Nebraska, USA, August 2014–October 2017