Head Start and children's nutrition, weight, and health care receipt

Abstract

Using a sample of low-income children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (N ≈ 4,350) and propensity-score weighted regressions, we analyzed children's nutrition, weight, and health care receipt at kindergarten entry, comparing 1) Head Start participants and all non-participants, and 2) Head Start participants and children in prekindergarten, other center-based care, other non-parental care, or only parental care. Overall, we found that compared to all non-participants, Head Start participants were more likely to receive dental checkups but showed no differences in getting medical checkups; they were also more likely to have healthy eating patterns but showed no differences in Body Mass Index (BMI), overweight, or obesity. However, these results varied depending on the comparison group—Head Start participants showed lower BMI scores and lower probability of overweight compared to those in other non-parental care, and the effects on healthy eating and dental checkups differed by comparison group.

Relationship Between Early Childhood Non-Parental Childcare and Diet, Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour, and Sleep: A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Studies

“…After de-duplication, 18,793 articles underwent title/abstract screening, and the full texts of 175 articles were reviewed. Thirteen studies [40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52] met all of the eligibility criteria, and were included in the review. Of these, eight studies reported on diet [40,46,47,48,49,50,51,52], three reported on physical activity [40,42,45], three on sedentary behaviour [42,43,44], and one on sleep [41] outcomes.…”

“…Most included studies were from high-income countries, with seven originating from the United States [40,41,43,44], one from Australia [42], one from New Zealand [45], and one from the United Kingdom (UK) [49]. Samples were generally balanced with relation to children’s gender (although three studies did not report gender composition of the sample) [48,49,52], but varied greatly both in size (between 34 and 18,050 subjects) and ethnic composition (between 0% and 87% white, with one study not reporting race/ethnicity or country of birth [42], and five providing information only for country of birth) [46,47,49,50,52].…”

“…All studies assessed exposure to non-parental childcare between birth and 5 years via proxy-report from a parent or primary caregiver. Nine studies described childcare exposure in simple categorical terms (e.g., centre-based preschool or Head Start centre versus other, including parents) [40,41,42,46,47,49,50,51,52]. One study assessed duration of exposure (centre-based preschool for at least 2 years versus other/mixed care, including parents) [40].…”

“…Age at outcome assessment varied from 1–12 months to 51 years. For diet outcomes, all studies used proxy-report by a mother or main caregiver [40,46,47,48,49,50,51,52]. For physical activity outcomes, most studies used proxy- or self-report [40,42,45], with average accelerometer counts/minute used in one case [45].…”

Indirect Effects of Food Insecurity on Body Mass Index Through Feeding Style and Dietary Quality Among Low-Income Hispanic Preschoolers

“…45 Head Start also offers nutrition education to parents. 45,46 The children in this study had graduated out of Head Start by Time 2 and any effects that could relate to Head Start would be residual. However, the children could still have received free or reduced-cost breakfast and/or lunch at their current schools.…”