Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Purpose:

Using the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics benchmarks as a framework, this study examined childcare providers’ (Head Start [HS], Child and Adult Care Food Program [CACFP] funded, and non-CACFP) perspectives regarding communicating with parents about nutrition to promote children’s health.

Design:

Qualitative.

Setting:

State-licensed center-based childcare programs.

Participants:

Full-time childcare providers (n = 18) caring for children 2 to 5 years old from varying childcare contexts (HS, CACFP funded, and non-CACFP), race, education, and years of experience.

Methods:

In-person interviews using semi-structured interview protocol until saturation were achieved. Thematic analysis was conducted.

Results:

Two overarching themes were barriers and strategies to communicate with parents about children’s nutrition. Barriers to communication included—(a) parents are too busy to talk with providers, (b) parents offer unhealthy foods, (c) parents prioritize talking about child food issues over nutrition, (d) providers are unsure of how to communicate about nutrition without offending parents, and (e) providers are concerned if parents are receptive to nutrition education materials. Strategies for communication included—(a) recognize the benefits of communicating with parents about nutrition to support child health, (b) build a partnership with parents through education, (c) leverage policy (federal and state) to communicate positively and avoid conflict, (d) implement center-level practices to reinforce policy, and (e) foster a respectful relationship between providers and parents.

Conclusion:

Policy and environmental changes were recommended for fostering a respectful relationship and building a bridge between providers and parents to improve communication about children’s nutrition and health.

Keywords

obesity childcare Head Start Child and Adult Care Program health policy nutrition parent communication

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ogden

Carroll

Kit

Flegal

. Prevalence of childhood and adult obesity in the united states, 2011-2012. JAMA. 2014;311(8):806–814.

Reilly

Kelly

. Long-term impact of overweight and obesity in childhood and adolescence on morbidity and premature mortality in adulthood: systematic review. Int J Obes. 2011;35(7):891–898.

McCarthy

Hughes

Tilling

Davies

Davey Smith

Ben-Shlomo

. Birth weight; postnatal, infant, and childhood growth; and obesity in young adulthood: evidence from the Barry Caerphilly Growth Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007;86(4):907.

Harrison

Bost

McBride

. Toward a developmental conceptualization of contributors to overweight and obesity in childhood: the Six-Cs model. Child Dev Perspect. 2011;5(1):50–58.

Wallman

. Federal interagency forum on child and family statistics. America’s Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being. 2008.

Neelon

Sara

Briley

; American Dietetic Association. Position of the American dietetic association: benchmarks for nutrition in childcare. J Am Diet Assoc. 2011;111(4):607–615.

Gubbels

Kremers

Stafleu

Dagnelie

De Vries

Thijs

. Child-care environment and dietary intake of 2-and 3-year-old children. J Hum Nutr Diet. 2010;23(1):97–101.

McGrath

. Ambivalent partners: power, trust, and partnership in relationships between mothers and teachers in a full-time childcare center. Teach Coll Rec. 2007;109(6):1401–1422.

Head Start Program Performance Standards. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families Head Start Program Performance Standards. 45 CFR 1304.23 Child Nutrition:98-115.

10.

American Academy of Pediatrics, American Public Health Association, National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Childcare and Early Education. Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards; Guidelines for Early Care and Education Programs. 3rd ed. STANDARD 4.2.0.5: Meal and Snack Patterns. Elk Grove Village, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics; Washington, DC: American Public Health Association. http://nrckids.org/CFOC3/index.html. Updated 2011. Accessed April 6, 2012.

11.

Lyn

Evers

Davis

Maalouf

Griffin

. Barriers and supports to implementing a nutrition and physical activity intervention in childcare: directors’ perspectives. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2014;46(3):171–180.

12.

Johnson

Ramsay

Shultz

Branen

Fletcher

. Creating potential for common ground and communication between early childhood program staff and parents about young children’s eating. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2013;45(6):558–570.

13.

Rosenthal

Crowley

Curry

. Family childcare providers’ self-perceived role in obesity prevention: working with children, parents, and external influences. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2013;45(6):595–601.

14.

Dev

Speirs

McBride

Donovan

Chapman-Novakofski

. HS and childcare providers’ motivators, barriers and facilitators to practicing family-style meal service. Early Child Res Q. 2014;29(4):649–659.

15.

Dev

McBride

; The STRONG Kids Research Team. Academy of Nutrition And Dietetics benchmarks for nutrition in childcare 2011: are child-care providers across contexts meeting recommendations? J Acad Nutr Diet. 2013;113(10):1346–1353.

16.

Harris

Gleason

Sheean

Boushey

Beto

Bruemmer

. An introduction to qualitative research for food and nutrition professionals. J Am Diet Assoc. 2009;109(1):80–90.

17.

Price

. Factors Influencing Feeding Styles used by Staff During Meals with Young Children in Group Settings. University of Idaho; 2005, http://digital.lib.uidaho.edu/cdm/ref/collection/etd/id/116. Accessed May 12, 2016.

18.

Administration for Children and Parents. HS program performance standards and other regulations. http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/standards. Accessed December 12, 2015.

19.

Krefting

. Rigor in qualitative research: the assessment of trustworthiness. Am J Occup Ther. 1991;45(3):214–222.

20.

Tong

Sainsbury

Craig

. Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ): a 32-item checklist for interviews and focus groups. Int J Qual Health Care. 2007;19(6):349–357.

21.

Bowen

. Naturalistic inquiry and the saturation concept: a research note. Qual Res. 2008;8(1):137.

22.

Braun

Clarke

. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qual Res Psychol. 2006;3(2):77–101.

23.

Creswell

. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage; 2012.

24.

Ely

. On Writing Qualitative Research: Living by Words. Hove, United Kingdom: Psychology Press; 1997.

25.

Krueger

Casey

. Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage publications; 2008.

26.

Rosenthal

Crowley

Curry

. Promoting child development and behavioral health: family childcare providers’ perspectives. J Pediatr Health Care. 2009;23(5):289–297.

27.

Swartz

Easterbrooks

. The role of parent, provider, and child characteristics in parent–provider relationships in infant and toddler classrooms. Early Educ Dev. 2014;25(4):573–598.

28.

Taveras

Camargo

Jr Rifas-Shiman

. Association of birth weight with asthma-related outcomes at age 2 years. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2006;41(7):643–648.

29.

Perlman

Fletcher

. Hellos and how are yous: predictors and correlates of communication between staff and parents during morning drop-off in childcare centers. Early Educ Dev. 2012;23(4):539–557.

30.

Mita

Gray

Goodell

. An explanatory framework of teachers’ perceptions of a positive mealtime environment in a preschool setting. Appetite. 2015;90:37–44.

31.

Karila

Alasuutari

. Drawing partnership on paper: how do the forms for individual educational plans frame parent-teacher relationship. Int J Parents Educ. 2012;6(1):15–27.

32.

Institute of Medicine. Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Policies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 2011.

33.

Benjamin Neelon

Briley

; American Dietetic Association. Position of the American dietetic association: benchmarks for nutrition in childcare. J Am Diet Assoc. 2011;111(4):607–615.

34.

Venturelli

Cigala

. Daily welcoming in childcare centre as a microtransition: an exploratory study [published online, 2015]. Early Child Dev Care:1–16.

35.

Tolbert

. Parent-teacher relationships among low-income parents. 2014.

36.

Halgunseth

Peterson

Stark

Moodie

. Family Engagement, Diverse Parents, and Early Childhood Programs: An Integrated Review of the Literature. Washington, DC: The National Association for the Education of Young Children; 2009.

37.

Gupta

Shuman

Taveras

Kulldorff

Finkelstein

. Opportunities for health promotion education in childcare. Pediatrics. 2005;116(4):e499–e505.

38.

Benjamin

Cradock

Walker

Slining

Gillman

. Obesity prevention in child care: a review of US state regulations. BMC Public Health. 2008;8(1):1.

39.

Larson

Ward

Neelon

Story

. What role can child-care settings play in obesity prevention? A review of the evidence and call for research efforts. J Am Diet Assoc. 2011;111(9):1343–1362.

40.

Lanigan

. The relationship between practices and childcare providers’ beliefs related to child feeding and obesity prevention. J Nutr Educ Behavi. 2012;44(6):521–529.

41.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overweight and obesity facts. www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/facts. Published 2012. Updated 2012. Accessed August 2, 2013.

42.

Sweitzer

Briley

Roberts-Gray

. Lunch is in the bag: increasing fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in sack lunches of preschool-aged children. J Am Diet Assoc. 2010;110(7):1058–1064.

43.

Baker

Manfredi-Petitt

. Relationships, the Heart of Quality Care. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children; 2004.

44.

Sharma

Dortch

Byrd-Williams

. Nutrition-related knowledge, attitudes, and dietary behaviors among HS teachers in Texas: a cross-sectional study. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2013;113(4):558–562.

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.03 MB

Engaging Parents to Promote Children’s Nutrition and Health

Abstract

Purpose:

Design:

Setting:

Participants:

Methods:

Results:

Conclusion:

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References

Supplementary Material