Nutritional Quality of Meals Compared to Snacks in Child Care

Abstract

Background: Most young children are in child care. Previous studies suggest that children may receive insufficient vegetables, and foods and beverages with added sugars, fats, and sodium in these settings. None have compared the nutritional quality of meals to snacks.Methods: Directors from 258 full-day child-care centers in two urban counties of southwestern Ohio were surveyed via telephone in the fall of 2009 about their nutrition practices, and asked to provide a current menu. Lunch and afternoon snack menus were categorized according to average weekly frequency for fruits, vegetables, lean meats, juice (100%), and sweet or salty foods served. Frequencies were compared by meal occasion (lunch vs. snack) using the Fisher exact test.Results: Most (60%) directors reported serving 2% milk to children ‡ 3 years; 31% served whole milk. Menu analysis demonstrated the composition of lunches differed from snacks ( p < 0.0001) in all food categories. A total of 87% centers rarely ( < 1 time per week) listed nonstarchy vegetables for snacks, but 67% of centers included them at lunch ‡ 3 times per week. Juice (100%) was on snack menus > 2 times per week in 37% centers, but in only 1 center as a regular component of lunch. Similarly, 87% centers listed sweet and salty foods at snack ‡ 3 times per week, but rarely at lunch.Conclusions: Despite efforts to improve children's diets in child care, meals-and particularly snacks-still lack whole fruits and nonstarchy vegetables and contain added sugars and fats. Snacks represent a missed opportunity to improve the nutritional quality of foods served in childcare.

The family child care home environment and children's diet quality

“…Little is known about the potential mechanisms linking child care with obesity, if such a relationship exists. The nutrition environment at child care may be an important mechanism to explore given recent studies in the US, the UK, and the Netherlands that highlight the nutritional inadequacy of foods and beverages commonly served to children in child care; specifically, meals and snacks lack sufficient fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and include excessive fats and sugars (Copeland, Benjamin Neelon, Howald, & Wosje, 2013; Frampton et al, 2014; Gubbels et al, 2014, 2015; Maalouf, Evers, Griffin, & Lyn, 2013; Neelon et al, 2015; Parker, LloydWilliams, Weston, Macklin, & McFadden, 2011). …”

“Monkey see, monkey do”: Peers' behaviors predict preschoolers' physical activity and dietary intake in childcare centers

“…United States benchmarks for nutrition have suggested that half to two-thirds of children's nutritional needs should be met while in childcare (Benjamin Neelon et al, 2011). However, many preschoolers consume low amounts of vegetables and fruit, and excessive amounts of saturated fat and added sugars while in childcare centers (Ball et al, 2008;Copeland et al, 2013;Erinosho et al, 2013;Gubbels et al, 2014). Furthermore, despite opportunities for children to be active inside and outside, studies have consistently shown that sedentary time within childcare centers is typically high, while physical activity levels are typically very low, accumulating less than 20 minutes per day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during an 8-hour day (Kuzik et al, 2015).…”

Contextual and Cultural Influences on Parental Feeding Practices and Involvement in Child Care Centers among Hispanic Parents

“…32 This is important because growing evidence suggests that the child-care environment can influence positive and negative dietary behaviors in young children. [33][34][35][36][37] Therefore, beginning to explore how the child-care food environment might influence the home feeding environment is of importance.…”