Impact of changes to the Child and Adult Care Food Program on children’s dietary intake in family child care homes

Kenney, Erica L.; Poole, Mary Kathryn; Cory, Hannah; Cradock, Angie L.

doi:10.1017/s1368980019004646

Cited by 13 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…At lunch, children were served more than recommended CACFP portion sizes of fruit, vegetables and grains, suggesting that CACFP meal pattern and minimum portion size requirements are largely being met during the lunch period. However, providers in this sample were not as compliant with the requirement to serve milk at lunch as has been observed in prior studies of CACFP-participating programmes (29,32,36,(39)(40)(41) ; as milk was not served at three out of the 10 lunches observed (see online supplementary material, Supplemental Appendix 3). It is unclear why the providers in our sample did not meet this requirement.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 51%

Comparison of foods and beverages served and consumed in Child and Adult Care Food Program-participating childcare centres to national guidelines

Mozaffarian¹,

Carter²,

Bovenzi³

et al. 2023

Public Health Nutr.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective: The federal Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) sets minimum nutrition and portion size standards for meals served in participating childcare programs. CACFP has been associated with more nutritious meals served. It is unclear, however, whether CACFP results in childrens dietary intake being aligned with national recommendations. We assess whether childrens dietary intake in CACFP-participating childcare centers meets benchmarks set by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). Design: This is a cross-sectional study. We used direct observation to estimate quantities of foods/beverages served and consumed per child. Mean amounts served per child per day were compared to CACFP portion size requirements for each component (fruits, vegetables, milk, meat/meat alternate). Mean amounts of foods/beverages consumed were compared to DGA recommendations (calories, fruits, vegetables, whole/refined grains, dairy, protein, added sugars). One sample t-tests evaluated if quantities served and consumed were different from CACFP and DGA standards, respectively. Setting: Six CACFP-participating childcare centers. Participants: 2-5 year-old children attending childcare. Results: We observed 46 children across 166 child-meals. Most meals served met CACFP nutrition standards. Compared to CACFP portion size standards, children were served more grains at breakfast and lunch; more fruits/vegetables at lunch but less at breakfast and snack; and less dairy at all eating occasions. Compared to DGA recommendations, children under-consumed every food/beverage category except grains during at least one eating occasion. Conclusions: Children were served quantities of foods/beverages mostly consistent with CACFP portion size requirements, but had sub-optimal intake relative to DGAs. More research is needed to help children consume healthy diets in childcare.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 51%

Comparison of foods and beverages served and consumed in Child and Adult Care Food Program-participating childcare centres to national guidelines

Mozaffarian¹,

Carter²,

Bovenzi³

et al. 2023

Public Health Nutr.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The Child and Adult Care Food Program changed requirements for whole grain, juice, fruit, and vegetables served and limited sugar content of certain items. Preliminary data suggest improvements in diet, 62 including fruit and whole grain intake. It is unclear if this improvement in diet will translate into corresponding changes in obesity, especially among those at higher risk for obesity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Policy, system, and environmental interventions addressing obesity and diet‐related outcomes in early childhood education settings: A systematic review

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary Early childhood education (ECE) settings play an important role in child dietary intake and excess weight gain. Policy, systems, and environment (PSE) approaches have potential to reduce disparities in children at higher risk for obesity. The purpose of this review was to (1) characterize the inclusion of populations at higher risk for obesity in ECE interventions and (2) identify effective ECE interventions in these populations. Seven databases were searched for ECE interventions. Intervention characteristics and methodological quality were assessed in 35 articles representing 34 interventions. Interventions identified were mainly a combination of ECE and parent interventions (41%) or stand‐alone ECE intervention (29%), with few multisector efforts (23%) or government regulations assessed (5%). Many included policy (70%) or social environment components (61%). For Aim 1, two thirds were conducted in primarily populations at higher risk for obesity (67%). Studies were rated as fair or good methodological quality. For Aim 2, 10 studies demonstrated effectiveness at improving diet or reducing obesity in populations at higher risk for obesity. Most included a longer intervention (i.e., >6 months), multiple PSE components, and formative work. Opportunities to incorporate more PSE components in ECE‐based interventions and collaborate with parents and communities are warranted to improve child health.

show abstract

“…While this study found that children under the care of Latino FCCPs had higher component diet quality scores for greens/beans, total protein, and seafood and plant protein, this analysis did not take into account the specific types of foods offered and the ethnic differences in the foods provided [24]. While the CACFP is a very important predictor of the nutritional quality of foods served in childcare [30][31][32][33], exploring other factors among FCCHs that care for underserved children is needed. This is particularly important given that children still do not meet recommendations for fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat milk, and are consuming too many sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), fruit juice and snacks, with excess sugars, saturated fat and sodium [34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Dietary Contributors to Food Group Intake in Preschool Children Attending Family Childcare Homes: Differences between Latino and Non-Latino Providers

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

While there are several factors that contribute to the diet quality of children in childcare, one contributing factor in Family Childcare Homes (FCCHs) is the provider’s ethnicity. However, research examining the food items provided in this setting is limited; in particular, with regards to differences between FCCHs of Latino and non-Latino providers. The aim of this study was to identify and describe the food items that contribute to food group intake in preschool-aged children attending FCCHs, and to examine differences by provider ethnicity. This secondary data analysis used baseline data from Healthy Start/Comienzos Sanos: a cluster-randomized trial. Children’s dietary intake was collected using the Dietary Observation in Child Care method and entered into Nutrition Data System for Research software. Food groups were based on the Nutrition Coordinating Center classification. Contribution of food items to their respective food group was calculated as a proportion, using ratio of means and presented as a percentage. Ethnic differences were tested with ANCOVA (p < 0.05) with Bonferroni adjustments for multiple comparisons. All providers (n = 120) were female and 67.5% were Latino. Most fruit consumed by children was in the form of juice (85%), three-fourths of the grains consumed were refined (75%), and half of the sweets consumed were syrup/honey/jelly (50%). Most of the vegetables consumed were non-starchy (61%), nearly three-fourths of dairy consumed was low-fat (71%), and vegetable oils contributed the most to the fats group (89%). Food items differed by provider’s ethnicity, with children cared for by non-Latino providers consuming a higher proportion of fruit juice, animal fats and a lower proportion of legumes (p < 0.001 for all). Children with Latino providers consumed a lower proportion of non-starchy vegetables, low-fat dairy, and nuts/seeds (p < 0.001 for all). FCCH providers could offer more whole fruits and grains and a greater variety of vegetables. Differences by ethnicity suggest providers could benefit from culturally tailored recommendations.

show abstract

Impact of changes to the Child and Adult Care Food Program on children’s dietary intake in family child care homes

Cited by 13 publications

References 19 publications

Comparison of foods and beverages served and consumed in Child and Adult Care Food Program-participating childcare centres to national guidelines

Comparison of foods and beverages served and consumed in Child and Adult Care Food Program-participating childcare centres to national guidelines

Policy, system, and environmental interventions addressing obesity and diet‐related outcomes in early childhood education settings: A systematic review

Dietary Contributors to Food Group Intake in Preschool Children Attending Family Childcare Homes: Differences between Latino and Non-Latino Providers

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About