In April 2012, South Carolina enacted 13 nutrition standards for child-care centers serving lower-income children throughout the state. This study evaluated consistency with the standards before and after the policy took effect using North Carolina, a state not making policy changes, as the comparison. Researchers recorded foods and beverages served to children and documented the More
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
The purpose of this project is to examine the use of state policy approaches to promote the implementation of the National AfterSchool Association Healthy Eating and Physical Activity (NAA HEPA) standards. The research team will build a conceptual framework, elicit expert opinion on state policy approaches, analyze real-world experiences using case studies in two states, More
National data show that preschool-age children in the U.S. do not eat the recommended amount of whole fruit and vegetables (FV). Child-care settings are an important place to influence children’s diets, since over 80 percent of preschool-age children receive care outside the home, and many children eat most of their meals while in child care. More
The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) supports food service in child-care centers that serve lower-income families and regulated the quality and quantity of food served in participating centers. The aim of this study was to assess the nutritional quality of lunches served in 38 CACFP-participating preschools in Connecticut and examine how current practices More
In January 2015, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a proposed rule detailing potential changes to the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) regulations, which are expected to improve the nutritional quality of foods served in CACFP-participating child-care centers. This study will collect baseline data for Connecticut CACFP-participating child-care centers to document More
Physical activity (PA) at a young age is an important health behavior to prevent childhood obesity and establish healthy PA habits. Because the majority of preschool-age children attend child-care centers, child-care environment can play an important role in promoting PA among this population. This study examined environmental factors associated with children’s moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity More
This study will address the research gap in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of child-care regulation across jurisdictions regarding nutrition, active play, and screen time. Specific aims of the project are to: 1) create and implement a standardized child-care regulatory policy content coding system for key obesity-related indicators; 2) develop an understanding of the child-care More
Drinking water is promoted to improve beverage nutrition and reduce the prevalence of obesity. The aims of this study were to identify how water was provided to children in child-care settings and to determine the extent to which water access changed after a federal and state child-care care beverage policy was implemented in 2011 and More
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
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