Compliance with the New 2017 Child and Adult Care Food Program Standards for Infants and Children before Implementation

Abstract

Training on a number of topics is needed to achieve full implementation of the new CACFP standards to ensure that young children in child care have access to healthier meals and snacks.

Early Childhood Education Centers' Reported Readiness to Implement the Updated Child and Adult Care Food Program Meal Pattern Standards in the United States, 2017

“…Also, the final frame and respondent sample did not include centers from Louisiana or Maine (where center lists were not available) and Arkansas (no respondents). Second, while our overall completion response rate was low (25%), it is consistent with similar CACFP and ECE center provider surveys 12,16,[31][32][33] and with survey research literature on declining web-based survey response rates. 34,35 Unfortunately, we did not have the resources to incentivize each respondent, which could have increased response rates, and in the future we plan to send an advance message before fielding the survey.…”

“…Invitations were suspended to 297 (5%) centers located in areas affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Our final completed response rate was comparable with that of prior CACFP-or ECE nutrition-related studies that used similar survey administration methods 12,16,[31][32][33] and is consistent with recent literature on low web-based survey response rates, 34,35 particularly for hard-to-reach populations. The survey was primarily completed by center directors/assistant directors (71%).…”

Status of Beverages Served to Young Children in Child Care After Implementation of California Policy, 2012–2016

“…CACFP sites had higher adherence than non-CACFP sites with beverage policy, similar to other studies showing that CACFP participants provide better nutrition than those not participating in CACFP (20)(21)(22)(23). CACFP sites receive more technical assistance and monitoring regarding required beverage policy than do child care sites that do not participate in the program.…”

Adherence to Updated Childcare Nutrition Regulations in Colorado, United States

“…We received 256 completed online surveys and 88 completed paper surveys for 344 responses (response rate of 25%). This response rate is comparable to other recent early childcare surveys (12,13,15,16). There was no significant difference in the size of center, CACFP participation, or geographic location between responding and non-responding centers.…”