Objective: To determine differences by Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) participation on nutrition requirements and best practices and barriers to implementing both in early care and education programs (ECEs) stratified by context (centers vs home-based ECEs). Design: Cross-sectional survey. Setting: Three-thousand and fourteen licensed Nebraska ECEs in 2017. Participants: One-thousand three hundred forty-five ECEs. Main Outcome Measure(s): Director-reported nutrition practices in classrooms serving children aged 2-5 years (8 requirements for foods served, 5 best practices for foods served, and 14 best practices for mealtime behaviors). Analysis: Chi-square analysis adjusted for multiple comparisons. Results: Of the sample, 86.8% participated in CACFP, 21.7% were center-based, and 78.3% were homebased. Overall, CACFP participation was related to the higher implementation of CACFP requirements for foods served (P < 0.004 for all) and receiving professional development on nutrition (P < 0.012). In home-based ECEs only, CACFP participation was related to a higher prevalence of serving meals familystyle (P = 0.002); however, these practices had low implementation overall. Conclusion and Implications: Findings suggest strengthening of requirements to include staff mealtime behaviors beyond service of healthful foods. Improving CACFP enrollment and including CACFP standards in state licensing requirements may be key strategies for improving nutrition practices in ECEs.

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This study explored how ethnic Yazidi refugee women overcome adversity to promote psychosocial health and well-being within the context of U.S. resettlement. Nine Yazidi women participated in two small photovoice groups, each group lasting eight sessions (16 sessions total). Women discussed premigration and resettlement challenges, cultural strengths and resources, and strategies to overcome adversity. Yazidi women identified trauma and perceived loss of culture as primary stressors. Participants’ resilience processes included using naan (as sustenance and symbol) to survive and thrive as well as by preserving an ethnoreligious identity. Findings suggest that women’s health priorities and resilience-promoting strategies center on fostering a collective cultural, religious, and ethnic identity postmigration. Importantly, women used naan (bread) as a metaphor to index cultural values, experiences of distress, and coping strategies. We discuss implications for this in promoting refugees’ mental and psychosocial health in U.S. resettlement.

A large body of empirical work has shown the role that parenting plays in the development of prosocial behaviors of children. Parenting styles (e.g., democratic versus authoritarian) and parenting practices (e.g., inductive discipline versus guilt-shame induction) in particular have been empirically linked to prosocial behaviors as well as numerous other well-being indicators in children. What is less understood is the role that culture and cultural context might play in the parenting-prosocial nexus. This chapter explores the contributions of culture comparative and in-depth cultural studies of parenting and children’s prosocial behaviors. These studies extend the range of variability of parenting dimensions and contexts as they relate to children’s prosocial outcomes – providing a means of testing the generalizability of theory in a wider range of settings, as well as in identifying facets of parenting and family life that may otherwise be neglected in current scholarship. Collectively, studies support traditional socialization theories and show how numerous parenting dimensions are linked to prosocial outcomes in children in several cultural communities. Nonetheless, emerging research suggests culturally embedded processes that impact upon the parenting and prosocial link - meriting closer attention for future scholarship.

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Background Ecological Approach To (EAT) Family Style is a 16-week responsive feeding Early Care and Education (ECE) intervention, utilizing a multilevel improvement system of 4 implementation strategies: (a) provision of a 7-lesson, on-line professional development training for administrators and teachers (b) administrative support; (c) performance monitoring, feedback, and assistance through follow-up coaching; and (d) use of incentives. The 7 lessons cover role modeling, peer modeling, sensory exploration, self-regulation, children serve themselves, praise and rewards, and family engagement, each relying on goal setting. The evidence-based practices and implementation system was delivered to ECE administrators and teachers completing one online lesson/week followed by a coaching session with a trained coach. EAT Family Style is guided by the self-determination theory. The objective of this study was to evaluate the EAT Family Style intervention through the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework.Methods Center-based ECE administrators (n=8) and teachers (n=17) caring for preschool (3-5 years) children and coaches (n=9) who participated in the EAT Family Style intervention were recruited. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, transcribed verbatim, and coded deductively by 3 coders using RE-AIM dimensions as a priori codes and placed into themes and sub-themes using thematic analysis. Results All participants perceived that EAT Family Style improved children’s nutritional and developmental outcomes and encouraged a positive mealtime environment (Effectiveness). Coaches and administrators reported EAT Family Style aligned with their professional goals and beliefs. Coaches found professional development incentives important, whereas administrators/teachers specifically valued in-service training credit hours (Adoption). Teachers reported successful implementation of EAT Family Style practices in the classroom. Administrators and coaches supported the teachers through administrative and coaching strategies (Implementation). All participants reported they intended to continue using the intervention. Administrators and teachers discussed incorporating EAT Family Style practices into handbook/school policy (Maintenance).Conclusion(s) EAT Family Style was viewed as feasible by participants. Its 4-pronged implementation strategy has the potential to improve the uptake of evidence-informed feeding practices in ECEs.

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