Start Date: April 2016

ID #: CAS037

Organization: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Project Lead: Dianne Ward, EdD

See more related research

Share


The Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation (EPAO) is a tool designed to evaluate practices, environmental attributes, and policies of early care and education (ECE) settings that influence children’s nutrition and physical activity. The purpose of this project is to provide easy-to-use and readily available resources to facilitate the EPAO tool’s use by researchers and public health practitioners. There will be three phases to the project. First, the team will revise older versions of the EPAO and EPAO-Self Report (EPAO-SR) instruments based on updates to the Nutrition and Physical Activity Self Assessment for Child Care (NAPSACC) best practices made in 2013. Next, the corresponding resources needed for efficient data entry and management will be created along with a data dictionary with clear labels/definitions for all variables. The final phase will be to develop a comprehensive training webinar and video-based certification process for EPAO data collectors. The resources developed through this project will be free and publically available on the Children’s Healthy Weight Research Group’s website.

Related Research

June 2017

Updated Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation (EPAO) Tool

The Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation (EPAO) is a tool designed to evaluate practices, environmental attributes, and policies of early care and education settings that influence children’s nutrition, physical activity, and sedentary environments. The tool has been updated to assess all current best practices in Go NAP SACC. The EPAO has been expanded to More

July 2024

Shared Perceptions on Upstream Factors that Influence Water and Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption Among Hispanic Families in the Greater Washington, DC, Metro Area: Qualitative Results From Focus Group Discussions

The study aimed to describe how Hispanic parents currently living in the greater Washington, DC, metro area and born outside of the United States, perceived upstream factors that influenced their current beverage choice. Six qualitative focus groups were conducted in Spanish in 2021. The five key findings were: Growing up (in their countries of origin More

June 2024

CACFP Family Childcare Home Sponsor Perspectives – Serious Deficiency Challenges

The federal Child and Adult Care Food Program, commonly known as CACFP, ensures over 4.2 million children, mostly in families with low income, receive nutritious meals and snacks in childcare. However, not all qualifying childcare providers participate in this beneficial program. Research suggests that the serious deficiency process, designed to ensure program integrity, may hinder More