Nutrition-Related Knowledge, Attitudes, and Dietary Behaviors among Head Start Teachers in Texas: A Cross-Sectional Study

Sharma, Shreela V.; Dortch, Katherine Skala; Byrd-Williams, Courtney E.; Truxillio, Jeanette B.; Rahman, Gulshan A.; Bonsu, Pamela; Hoelscher, Deanna M.

doi:10.1016/j.jand.2013.01.003

Cited by 91 publications

(139 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…These data may reflect recent initiatives to mandate and increase nutrition and PA programs in Head Start programs. As in previous studies, 65 the ECE teachers were predominantly female and nonwhite, with the majority being bilingual as well. Most had worked at the center for 5 years or less, although it appeared that more of the comparison centers teachers reported being trained in CATCH Early Childhood, compared to the intervention centers, owing to pilot work completed previously in some of the centers in the area.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 63%

Incorporating Primary and Secondary Prevention Approaches To Address Childhood Obesity Prevention and Treatment in a Low-Income, Ethnically Diverse Population: Study Design and Demographic Data from the Texas Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration (TX CORD) Study

Hoelscher¹,

Butte

Barlow

et al. 2015

Childhood Obesity

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Background: There is consensus that development and evaluation of a systems-oriented approach for child obesity prevention and treatment that includes both primary and secondary prevention efforts is needed. This article describes the study design and baseline data from the Texas Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration (TX CORD) project, which addresses child obesity among lowincome, ethnically diverse overweight and obese children, ages 2-12 years; a two-tiered systems-oriented approach is hypothesized to reduce BMI z-scores, compared to primary prevention alone.Methods: Our study aims are to: (1) implement and evaluate a primary obesity prevention program; (2) implement and evaluate efficacy of a 12-month family-centered secondary obesity prevention program embedded within primary prevention; and (3) quantify the incremental cost-effectiveness of the secondary prevention program. Baseline demographic and behavioral data for the primary prevention community areas are presented.Results: Baseline data from preschool centers, elementary schools, and clinics indicate that most demographic variables are similar between intervention and comparison communities. Most families are low income ( £ $25,000) and Hispanic/Latino (73.3-83.8%). The majority of parents were born outside of the United States. Child obesity rates exceed national values, ranging from 19.0% in preschool to 35.2% in fifth-grade children. Most parents report that their children consume sugary beverages, have a television in the bedroom, and do not consume adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 63%

Incorporating Primary and Secondary Prevention Approaches To Address Childhood Obesity Prevention and Treatment in a Low-Income, Ethnically Diverse Population: Study Design and Demographic Data from the Texas Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration (TX CORD) Study

Hoelscher¹,

Butte

Barlow

et al. 2015

Childhood Obesity

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“…We found that overweight/obesity levels among these child care staff were quite high (87%) compared to the national average (66%) [84]. In a study of Head Start staff in Texas, 79% of their sample was overweight or obese [12]. These rates are similar to those we recently reported among a sample of family child care home providers, individuals who care for children in their own homes, with > 90% of these women being classified as overweight or obese [11].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent calls to action for child care settings to be a part of health promotion efforts for children [92–94] might provide some needed momentum. The health behaviors and attitudes of child care staff, including discomfort with their own physical abilities, dislike of healthier foods, and a lack of knowledge about physical activity and nutrition, impairs staff’s ability to be healthy role models for young children [12,95]. Hence, health promotion initiatives for children would likely be enhanced if staff well-being were also addressed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In one large-scale survey among Pennsylvania Head Start staff, nearly three-quarters had one or more chronic health conditions; 15% rated their health as fair or poor; and 8.6 days of work were missed in the past year due to illness or injury [10]. A few smaller studies have demonstrated poor health habits (diet, physical activity, sleep) [11], high rates of overweight and obesity [11,12], and increased emotional distress [11,13]. Child care staff appear to suffer significant health risks that have been largely ignored [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Workplace health and safety intervention for child care staff: Rationale, design, and baseline results from the CARE cluster randomized control trial

Ward

Vaughn

Hales

et al. 2018

Contemporary Clinical Trials

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Background Low-wage workers suffer disproportionately high rates of chronic disease and are important targets for workplace health and safety interventions. Child care centers offer an ideal opportunity to reach some of the lowest paid workers, but these settings have been ignored in workplace intervention studies. Methods Caring and Reaching for Health (CARE) is a cluster-randomized controlled trial evaluating efficacy of a multi-level, workplace-based intervention set in child care centers that promotes physical activity and other health behaviors among staff. Centers are randomized (1:1) into the Healthy Lifestyles (intervention) or the Healthy Finances (attention control) program. Healthy Lifestyles is delivered over six months including a kick-off event and three 8-week health campaigns (magazines, goal setting, behavior monitoring, tailored feedback, prompts, center displays, director coaching). The primary outcome is minutes of moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA); secondary outcomes are health behaviors (diet, smoking, sleep, stress), physical assessments (body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, blood pressure, fitness), and workplace supports for health and safety. Results In total, 56 centers and 553 participants have been recruited and randomized. Participants are predominately female (96.7%) and either Non-Hispanic African American (51.6%) or Non-Hispanic White (36.7%). Most participants (63.4%) are obese. They accumulate 17.4 ( ± 14.2) minutes/day of MVPA and consume 1.3 ( ± 1.4) and 1.3 ( ± 0.8) servings/day of fruits and vegetables, respectively. Also, 14.2% are smokers; they report 6.4 ( ± 1.4) hours/night of sleep; and 34.9% are high risk for depression. Conclusions Baseline data demonstrate several serious health risks, confirming the importance of workplace interventions in child care.

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“…One of the reasons for this poor communication could be because the providers do not have adequate nutrition knowledge and communication skills. Studies have shown that preschool teachers have low nutrition knowledge (Sharma et al 2013) and do not receive adequate training in preschooler’s nutrition needs, thus inhibiting dialogue with the parents around these issues. Training in elementary school teachers has been shown to increase implementation of behaviorally-based health promotion programs (Hoelscher et al 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of the Lunch is in the Bag program on communication between the parent, child and child-care provider around fruits, vegetables and whole grain foods: A group-randomized controlled trial

Sharma

Rashid

Ranjit³

et al. 2015

Preventive Medicine

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Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of the parent- and early care education (ECE) center-based Lunch is in the Bag program on communication between parent, child, and their ECE center providers around fruits, vegetables and whole grain foods (FVWG). Method A total of n=30 ECE center; 577 parent-child dyads participated in this group-randomized controlled trial conducted from 2011–2013 in Texas (n=15 ECE center, 327 dyads intervention group; n=15 ECE center, 250 dyads comparison group). Parent-child and parent-ECE center provider communication was measured using a parent-reported survey administered at baseline and end of the five-week intervention period. Multilevel linear regression analysis was used to compare the pre-to-post intervention changes in the parent-child and parent-ECE center provider communication scales. Significance was set at p<0.05. Results At baseline, parent-child and parent-ECE center provider communication scores were low. There was a significant increase post-intervention in the parent-ECE center provider communication around vegetables (Adjusted β = 0.78, 95%CI: 0.13, 1.43, p=0.002), and around fruit (Adjusted β = 0.62, 95%CI: 0.04, 0.20, p=0.04) among the parents in the intervention group as compared to those in the comparison group. There were no significant intervention effects on parent-child communication. Conclusion Lunch is in the Bag had significant positive effects on improving communication between the parents and ECE center providers around FVWG.

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Nutrition-Related Knowledge, Attitudes, and Dietary Behaviors among Head Start Teachers in Texas: A Cross-Sectional Study

Cited by 91 publications

References 14 publications

Incorporating Primary and Secondary Prevention Approaches To Address Childhood Obesity Prevention and Treatment in a Low-Income, Ethnically Diverse Population: Study Design and Demographic Data from the Texas Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration (TX CORD) Study

Incorporating Primary and Secondary Prevention Approaches To Address Childhood Obesity Prevention and Treatment in a Low-Income, Ethnically Diverse Population: Study Design and Demographic Data from the Texas Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration (TX CORD) Study

Workplace health and safety intervention for child care staff: Rationale, design, and baseline results from the CARE cluster randomized control trial

Effectiveness of the Lunch is in the Bag program on communication between the parent, child and child-care provider around fruits, vegetables and whole grain foods: A group-randomized controlled trial

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