Fathers are critical stakeholders in childhood obesity prevention but are difficult to engage. This review presents a new approach to engaging fathers in obesity prevention during the first 1,000 days. The review focuses on five existing health and social service programs, including prenatal care, pediatric care, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, home visiting, and Early Head Start. For each program, the obesity prevention services provided, evidence of father engagement, and barriers thereto are outlined. Subsequently, policy, systems, and environmental strategies are outlined to address the noted barriers and promote father engagement. Although the programs hold great promise in bringing obesity prevention services to fathers, barriers to their engagement are present in the inner (e.g., limited hours of operation, lack of father‐specific materials and programming) and outer (e.g., lack of model programs, best practice models, and consistent funding) settings of programs. Policy, systems, and environmental strategies to increase father engagement focus on earmarked funding, changes to national practice guidelines and practitioner training requirements, and the establishment of father‐engagement performance metrics. Increasing father involvement in the specified programs will likely increase their engagement in early obesity prevention in an efficient and sustainable manner.
Published: June 2019
ID #: 1110
Journal: Obesity
Authors: Davison K, Gavarkovs A, McBride B, Kotelchuck M, Levy R, Taveras E
Age Groups: Adults and Families, Pregnant women, infants and toddlers (ages 0 to 2)
Keywords: Child Care/Preschool, Head Start, Infant Feeding, Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
Focus Area: Early Childhood
Resource Type: Journal Article
Related Research
December 2024
Evidence to Support an Additional CACFP Meal Reimbursement for Family Childcare Home Providers
This policy brief provides evidence supporting the need for an increase in the number of reimbursable meals and snacks under the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program, also known as CACFP, from three to four per child daily. CACFP provides nutritious meals to nearly 625,000 children attending family childcare homes nationwide, primarily from lower-income MoreSeptember 2024
Water Is K’é: Learning from the Navajo Community to Promote Early Child Health
Drinking water instead of sugary drinks is key to reducing health disparities. Since beverage habits are shaped by complex personal, community, and environmental factors, community input is critical to design any intervention promoting water. The research team worked with community partners to design a program to promote healthy beverage habits among young Navajo children. The MoreAugust 2024