Age Group: Pregnant women, infants and toddlers (ages 0 to 2)

State Quality Rating and Improvement Systems: Strategies to Support Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Practices in Early Care and Education Settings

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In the early 2000s, states began developing Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) as a structural approach to improve the quality of Early Care and Education (ECE) programs. QRIS are voluntary or required systems designed to reach large numbers of ECE providers, particularly those serving lower-income children receiving child-care subsidies. The topics covered by QRIS More

The Relationship Between Physical Activity and Diet and Young Children’s Cognitive Development: A Systematic Review

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Given that early childhood is a formative developmental period, this study addresses important knowledge gaps by systematically reviewing the current literature on the relationship between physical activity and dietary patterns with cognitive outcomes in early childhood (6 months to 5 years). For physical activity, twelve studies (5 cross-sectional, 3 longitudinal, and 4 experimental) were included. More

The Impact of the First 1,000 Days on Childhood Obesity

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The first 1,000 days, or the period from conception through age 2, is increasingly recognized as a critical period for the development of childhood obesity and its adverse consequences. This issue brief is based on two review papers that examined evidence on risk factors for developing childhood obesity and interventions that could prevent childhood obesity More

Interventions for Childhood Obesity in the First 1,000 Days: A Systematic Review

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The first 1,000 days – conception through age 2 – represents an important period for the development and prevention of childhood obesity. This study reviews existing evidence from interventions occurring in the first 1,000 days that included prevention of childhood overweight or obesity as an outcome, identifies gaps in current research, and discusses conceptual frameworks More

Evaluating State Regulation of Early Care and Education Settings to Strengthen Licensing Laws Related to Healthy Feeding and Active Play

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The aim of this study is to describe state child-care licensing laws relating to healthy eating and active play targeting children ages 0 to 2 in early care and education settings for all U.S. states and territories. Investigators will use legal research methods to search state websites, the commercial legal databases LexisNexis® and WestlawNext®, and More

Examining Links Between Tribal Food Policies and Community Health, With a Focus on Prevention of Childhood Obesity and Promotion of Healthy Eating

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This project will examine the linkages between tribal government food policies and tribal community health, with a focus on the impact of food policy on obesity prevention among children and adolescents and the promotion of healthy eating. This project aims to study and report on three primary issues: 1) tribal communities’ use of food sovereignty More

Gathering Baseline Data to Understand Implementation Changes and the Impact of the New Child and Adult Care Food Program Standards

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently proposed updated nutrition standards for foods and beverages served in Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) participating child-care centers and homes. This study will contribute to the tracking of successes and challenges following implementation of the new nutrition standards, and will build off of two prior HER-funded More

Studying the Nutritional Profile of Packaged Food Purchases under the Revised Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children

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This will be the first systematic study to quantify on a national scale how the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) food package changes, which were made in 2009 and finalized in 2014, relate to packaged food purchases (PFP) before and after these changes were made. The changes were intended More

State Quality Rating and Improvement Systems: Analysis of Strategies to Support Achievement of Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Best Practices in Early Care and Education Settings

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In the 1990s, states began developing Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) as a structural approach to improve the quality of early care and education (ECE) programs. Nemours’ experience implementing obesity prevention efforts in nine states has demonstrated that QRIS systems may be leveraged to promote childhood obesity prevention in addition to school readiness and More