Determining the Feasibility and Acceptability of a Nutrition Education and Cooking Program for Preschoolers and Their Families Delivered Over the Dinner Hour in a Low-Income Day Care Setting

Abstract

Objective. To test the feasibility and acceptability of a nutrition education/cooking program aimed at teaching positive eating behaviors to parents and their preschool children. Methods. A monthly program was delivered over the dinner hour at a child care facility. Questionnaires were completed at baseline, midway, and study end (10 month). Outcomes were program feasibility (retention, attendance) and acceptability (satisfaction); child food preparation skills, dietary intake, and body mass index percentile; parent self-efficacy regarding healthy eating practices; and family meal frequency. Results. Eleven families were recruited, and 10 families completed (91% retention). On average, 74% attended the program. All reported high satisfaction. Certain child diet outcomes improved (increased fruits and vegetables; decreased sugar-sweetened beverages) (P < .05). No gain in child body mass index percentile was observed. Parent self-efficacy regarding healthy eating practices improved (planning and encouraging; availability) (P < .05); family meal frequency increased (P < .05). Conclusions and Implications. We demonstrated feasibility and acceptability and inferred potential efficacy of a child care–based nutrition education/cooking program. Findings point to the promise of such a childhood obesity prevention program and the need for a larger randomized controlled trial.

Camp NERF: methods of a theory-based nutrition education recreation and fitness program aimed at preventing unhealthy weight gain in underserved elementary children during summer months

“…Camp NERF program (Enhanced Care, Standard Care, or Active Control) will occur 2 days per week for approximately 4 hours each day. This is expected to equate to 64 h of direct exposure per child, a sufficient dose for eliciting behavior change in the targeted outcomes [33–42]. Table 1 provides an overview of a sample day at an Enhance Care site.…”

Methods and design of a 10-week multi-component family meals intervention: a two group quasi-experimental effectiveness trial

“…The data used to estimate power come from a previous pilot study, in which the main outcome of interest was the change in frequency of family dinners prepared and eaten at home together (weekly basis) from baseline to post-intervention [42]. Change in frequency of family dinners was used to power the current study because there is strong evidence that it has a downstream effect on the outcome of interest, child BMI [3, 42–44], and there are no previous studies that show a causal effect of family dinners on BMI. Based on these data, assuming 20% attrition [42], with an expected effect size of 0.7071, there will be 80% power to detect a difference in frequency of family dinners of 3 days per week with 30 families per group for a total sample size of 60 families at α = 0.05.…”

“…Change in frequency of family dinners was used to power the current study because there is strong evidence that it has a downstream effect on the outcome of interest, child BMI [3, 42–44], and there are no previous studies that show a causal effect of family dinners on BMI. Based on these data, assuming 20% attrition [42], with an expected effect size of 0.7071, there will be 80% power to detect a difference in frequency of family dinners of 3 days per week with 30 families per group for a total sample size of 60 families at α = 0.05. Because the sample size in the previous pilot study was small and uncertainty about estimated effect size was large, we used a conservative estimate of effect size (i.e., the lower bound of a 95% confidence interval) for the power calculation.…”

Caregiver Nutritional Health Outcomes of the Simple Suppers Study: Results from a 10 Week, Two-Group Quasi-Experimental Family Meals Intervention

“…Sample size was determined by examining the power of the test for comparing increases in the frequency of family meals (days/week) of the intervention and waitlist control group [19]. Change in the frequency of family dinners was used to power the current study based on the evidence at the time of its effect on the outcome of interest, child BMI [10,22,34,35], and there were no previous studies demonstrating a causal effect of family dinners on BMI. Based on these data, and assuming 20% attrition [34], with an expected effect size of 0.7071, there was 80% power to detect a difference in the frequency of family dinners of 3 days per week with 30 families per group for a total sample size of 60 families at α = 0.05.…”

“…Change in the frequency of family dinners was used to power the current study based on the evidence at the time of its effect on the outcome of interest, child BMI [10,22,34,35], and there were no previous studies demonstrating a causal effect of family dinners on BMI. Based on these data, and assuming 20% attrition [34], with an expected effect size of 0.7071, there was 80% power to detect a difference in the frequency of family dinners of 3 days per week with 30 families per group for a total sample size of 60 families at α = 0.05. Since the sample size in the previous pilot was small and uncertainty about estimated effect size was large, a conservative estimate of effect size (i.e., the lower bound of a 95% confidence interval) was used for the power calculation.…”