Barriers and Enablers to Implementation of Dietary Guidelines in Early Childhood Education Centers in Australia: Application of the Theoretical Domains Framework

Grady, Alice; Seward, Kirsty; Finch, Meghan; Fielding, Alison; Stacey, Fiona; Jones, Jannah; Wolfenden, Luke; Yoong, Sze Lin

doi:10.1016/j.jneb.2017.09.023

Cited by 43 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…The Caring for Children guidelines also explicitly recommend that services do not provide “discretionary foods” (foods that are energy‐dense foods, high in fat, sodium and sugar) on their menu. In line with previous studies, menus containing such foods were deemed non‐compliant.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 67%

“…Items assessing current practices and resources that relate to the planning of menus compliant with guidelines in the service were measured. Consistent with previous research, using a combination of multiple choice and single‐item response questions, menu planners were asked to report: the length of the service menu cycle, whether they receive support from anyone in the service to help plan the menu, the type of support they receive to plan a menu consistent with guidelines, the frequency of menu review for compliance, the method used to ensure the menu is compliant, whether they have a written plan for planning a menu that meets guidelines, hours allocated to menu planning per week, whether adequate equipment is available to plan and provide a menu that meets guidelines, whether the budget is adequate to plan and provide a menu that meets guidelines, and their weekly allocated budget.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite the presence of guidelines, a lack of compliance with ECEC‐specific dietary guidelines has been found both nationally and internationally with one study conducted in 70 Australian LDC services identifying that no service menus provided the recommended serves of vegetables or meat/meat alternatives . While a systematic review highlighted that ECEC services report a number of theoretical‐based barriers and facilitators to providing foods on menus that are in‐line with sector dietary guidelines, including knowledge, skills and environmental factors, the association of specific contextual, environmental and menu planning practices with actual implementation of dietary guidelines for the sector has not yet been examined.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Menu planning practices in early childhood education and care – factors associated with menu compliance with sector dietary guidelines

Grady

Stacey

Seward

et al. 2019

Health Prom J of Aust

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Issue addressed: Despite recommendations, early childhood education and care services do not plan menus in accordance with sector dietary guidelines. This study aimed to examine the following among Australian long day care services: (a) menu planning practices; (b) prevalence of menu compliance with sector dietary guidelines;and (c) menu planning practices associated with higher menu compliance with sector dietary guidelines.Methods: Long day care services within Hunter New England, NSW participated in a pen and paper survey assessing menu planning practices and socio-demographic and service characteristics. Two-week menus were assessed for compliance with sector dietary guidelines, based on the number of servings of food groups and discretionary foods provided per child, per day. Results:Staff from 72 services completed the survey and 69 provided their menu.Results indicated the service cook was fully responsible for planning the menu in 43% of services, and 57% had received written support to assist with menu planning. Service menus were compliant with an average of 0.68 out of six food groups and discretionary foods. In poisson regression models, a shorter menu cycle length (P = .04) and the receipt of training opportunities to support menu planning (P < .01) were significantly associated with higher menu compliance. Conclusions: Menu compliance with sector dietary guidelines is low among participating long day care services. So what? The implementation of practices such as shortening of the menu cycle and the provision of training opportunities may assist in the planning of menus that are more compliant with dietary guidelines in this setting. K E Y W O R D S childcare, diet, guidelines, menu, nutrition | 217 GRADY et Al. How to cite this article: Grady A, Stacey F, Seward K, Finch M, Jones J, Yoong SL. Menu planning practices in early childhood education and care -factors associated with menu compliance with sector dietary guidelines. Health Promot J Austral. 2020;31:216-223. https ://doi.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 67%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Menu planning practices in early childhood education and care – factors associated with menu compliance with sector dietary guidelines

Grady

Stacey

Seward

et al. 2019

Health Prom J of Aust

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“…In Australia, childcare services that provide food to children are required by national accreditation standards to serve foods consistent with the Australian Dietary Guidelines . Despite this requirement, childcare services do not provide sufficient quantities of foods consistent with dietary guidelines …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…5 Despite this requirement, childcare services do not provide sufficient quantities of foods consistent with dietary guidelines. 6 Online systems offer opportunities to provide effective, ongoing support to childcare services to implement dietary guidelines.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of a dissemination strategy on the uptake of an online menu planning program: A controlled trial

Grady

Wolfenden

Rissel

et al. 2018

Health Prom J of Aust

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Issue addressed Online systems offer opportunities to provide effective, ongoing support to childcare services to implement dietary guidelines. The study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a dissemination strategy on childcare service: (i) adoption; and (ii) use of an online menu planning program designed to increase compliance with dietary guidelines. Methods A nonrandomised controlled trial was conducted with long day care services across Australia. All services received an email invitation to access an online evidence‐based menu planning program. Services in the intervention also received training, telephone contact and provision of a portable computer tablet to encourage program adoption and use. Outcomes were assessed at the 6‐month follow‐up using analytics data recorded by the online program. Outcomes included the proportion of services having accessed the program (adoption) and the proportion of services with a current menu entered in the program (use as intended). Results Twenty‐seven interventions and 19 control services took part. At the 6‐month follow‐up, 100% vs 58% of services had adopted the online menu planning program (OR: 14.67, 95% CI: 2.43‐infinity; P < 0.01) and 41% vs 5% of services had a current menu entered in the program (OR: 9.99, 95% CI: 1.01‐534.57; P < 0.01) in the intervention and control arms respectively. Conclusions This study highlights the need for strategies to support adoption and use of an online menu planning program in childcare services if the potential benefits of such a program are to be achieved. Future research should explore the effectiveness of differing strategies to increase adoption and use of online programs at scale. So what? Strategies to support childcare service uptake and use of online programs are required in order for the potential public health benefits of such technologies to be realised.

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Strategies to improve the implementation of healthy eating, physical activity and obesity prevention policies, practices or programmes within childcare services

Wolfenden

Barnes

Jones

et al. 2020

Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

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Barriers and Enablers to Implementation of Dietary Guidelines in Early Childhood Education Centers in Australia: Application of the Theoretical Domains Framework

Cited by 43 publications

References 32 publications

Menu planning practices in early childhood education and care – factors associated with menu compliance with sector dietary guidelines

Menu planning practices in early childhood education and care – factors associated with menu compliance with sector dietary guidelines

Effectiveness of a dissemination strategy on the uptake of an online menu planning program: A controlled trial

Strategies to improve the implementation of healthy eating, physical activity and obesity prevention policies, practices or programmes within childcare services

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