Use of Paid Child Care Health Care Consultants in Early Care and Education Settings: Results of a National Study Comparing Provision of Health Screening Services Among Head Start and Non-Head Start Centers

Hanna, Heather; Mathews, Rahel; Southward, Linda H.; Cross, Ginger W.; Kotch, Jonathan B.; Blanchard, Troy C.; Cosby, Arthur G.

doi:10.1016/j.pedhc.2011.05.008

Cited by 16 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…One randomized control trial in California [37] and quasi-experimental studies in Washington [47] and North Carolina [36] showed statistically significant improvements in centers’ written policies, while two quasi-experimental studies showed no significant changes in health policies and emergency plan policies in Connecticut [49] and in a nationally representative group of Head Start centers [50]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutrition and physical activity randomized control trial in child care centers improves knowledge, policies, and children’s body mass index

et al. 2014

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BackgroundTo address the public health crisis of overweight and obese preschool-age children, the Nutrition And Physical Activity Self Assessment for Child Care (NAP SACC) intervention was delivered by nurse child care health consultants with the objective of improving child care provider and parent nutrition and physical activity knowledge, center-level nutrition and physical activity policies and practices, and children’s body mass index (BMI).MethodsA seven-month randomized control trial was conducted in 17 licensed child care centers serving predominantly low income families in California, Connecticut, and North Carolina, including 137 child care providers and 552 families with racially and ethnically diverse children three to five years old. The NAP SACC intervention included educational workshops for child care providers and parents on nutrition and physical activity and consultation visits provided by trained nurse child care health consultants. Demographic characteristics and pre - and post-workshop knowledge surveys were completed by providers and parents. Blinded research assistants reviewed each center’s written health and safety policies, observed nutrition and physical activity practices, and measured randomly selected children’s nutritional intake, physical activity, and height and weight pre- and post-intervention.ResultsHierarchical linear models and multiple regression models assessed individual- and center-level changes in knowledge, policies, practices and age- and sex-specific standardized body mass index (zBMI), controlling for state, parent education, and poverty level. Results showed significant increases in providers’ and parents’ knowledge of nutrition and physical activity, center-level improvements in policies, and child-level changes in children’s zBMI based on 209 children in the intervention and control centers at both pre- and post-intervention time points.ConclusionsThe NAP SACC intervention, as delivered by trained child health professionals such as child care health consultants, increases provider knowledge, improves center policies, and lowers BMI for children in child care centers. More health professionals specifically trained in a nutrition and physical activity intervention in child care are needed to help reverse the obesity epidemic.Trial registrationNational Clinical Trials Number NCT01921842

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutrition and physical activity randomized control trial in child care centers improves knowledge, policies, and children’s body mass index

et al. 2014

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“…For example, previously published research reported that 80 % of fifty-one centres made changes to their menus as a result of participating in SRER (5) . A 2007 process evaluation study showed an increase in policy criteria met from 8•4 (range: 3-14 out of 18) before SRER participation to 17•1 (range: [13][14][15][16][17][18] after SRER participation. Staff interviewed in that study also reported changes in staff nutrition and menu development knowledge (4) .…”

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confidence: 99%

Impact of a nutrition award scheme on the food and nutrient intakes of 2- to 4-year-olds attending long day care

Bell

Hendrie

Hartley³

et al. 2015

Public Health Nutr.

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Objective: Early childhood settings are promising avenues to intervene to improve children's nutrition. Previous research has shown that a nutrition award scheme, Start Right -Eat Right (SRER), improves long day care centre policies, menus and eating environments. Whether this translates into improvements in children's dietary intake is unknown. The present study aimed to determine whether SRER improves children's food and nutrient intakes. Design: Pre-post cohort study. Setting: Twenty long day care centres in metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. Subjects: Children aged 2-4 years (n 236 at baseline, n 232 at follow-up). Methods: Dietary intake (morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea) was assessed pre-and post-SRER implementation using the plate wastage method. Centre nutrition policies, menus and environments were evaluated as measures of intervention fidelity. Comparisons between baseline and follow-up were made using t tests. Results: At follow-up, 80 % of centres were fully compliant with the SRER award criteria, indicating high scheme implementation and adoption. Intake increased for all core food groups (range: 0·2-0·4 servings/d, P < 0·001) except for vegetable intake. Energy intake increased and improvements in intakes of eleven out of the nineteen nutrients evaluated were observed. Conclusions: SRER is effective in improving children's food and nutrient intakes at a critical time point when dietary habits and preferences are established and can inform future public health nutrition interventions in this setting. KeywordsChild care Child Nutrition Food intake EvaluationYoung children increasingly spend a significant proportion of their day in early childhood settings. These settings frequently provide meals and snacks to children while they are in care and offer promising avenues for improving children's nutrition (1,2) . For example, long day care centres (LDCC) operate daily for a minimum of 8 h and often provide more than half of children's daily food intake (3) . Therefore it is important that the foods offered to children while in care provide the energy and nutrients they require for optimal growth and development. In South Australia (SA), Start Right -Eat Right (SRER) is a nutrition award scheme that has been rolled out by government state-wide since 2004. SRER aims to increase LDCC capacity to provide safe, healthy food choices and a positive eating environment for children (4) . Participation in SRER involves nutrition training for centre directors and cooks plus support for staff to improve the LDCC menus, policies and eating environment in line with the nutrition award criteria. The SRER award recognises centres that have: (i) a menu that provides at least 50 % of children's daily nutrition requirements; (ii) all staff trained in food hygiene; and (iii) a supportive eating environment for children. An auditing process ensures that once trained and awarded, the SRER criteria are maintained (4,5) .Previous research has shown the positive impact of SRER on the menus, policies and...

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“…With a significant amount of the pediatric population enrolled in center-based settings, nurses comprise the vast majority of child-care health consultants nationally in the USA (Crowley, Cianciolo, Krajicek, & Hawkins-Walsh, 2012;Foster & Ferguson, 2011). Frequent visits by nurse consultants have a positive impact on children's health and safety in early care settings (Crowley et al, 2012;Hanna et al, 2012). To comply with this role, nurses should be appropriately trained to achieve pediatric expertise.…”

Section: Nurses' Role In Child Health Servicementioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of nurse‐led child health service in child‐care centers: A survey study

Kim

Roh

2018

Nursing & Health Sciences

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There are relatively few initiatives to promote children's health and prevent disease in Korean child-care centers. The purpose of this study was to describe the effects of the nurse-led child health service in Korean child-care centers. A total of 9664 parents and 3892 teachers at child-care centers and 49 nurses completed self-administered questionnaires. Parent satisfaction, teacher satisfaction, and nurses' self-evaluation were surveyed. Case-management reports of children were collected over 5 years. Dental problems were ranked high among children across 5 years in the study. Most parents perceived nurse-led child health service as being useful. Overall, teachers' satisfaction scores were statistically significantly higher for home child-care centers compared to public or private child-care centers. Increasing the need for the nurse-led child health service was ranked the highest item by nurses, whereas the health management of teachers was ranked the lowest. The nurse-led child health service in Korean child-care centers induced positive outcomes, including the satisfaction of parents, teachers and nurses.

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Use of Paid Child Care Health Care Consultants in Early Care and Education Settings: Results of a National Study Comparing Provision of Health Screening Services Among Head Start and Non-Head Start Centers

Cited by 16 publications

References 9 publications

Nutrition and physical activity randomized control trial in child care centers improves knowledge, policies, and children’s body mass index

Nutrition and physical activity randomized control trial in child care centers improves knowledge, policies, and children’s body mass index

Impact of a nutrition award scheme on the food and nutrient intakes of 2- to 4-year-olds attending long day care

Effects of nurse‐led child health service in child‐care centers: A survey study

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