Newsletter
Contact
Improving the nutritional quality of foods served in child care may come at a higher cost according to a study of foods served in child-care homes participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). Researchers found that higher daily food expenditures were associated with higher total food energy and higher nutritional quality of menus. Food expenditures were strongly and positively associated with the number of portions of whole grains and fresh produce served, even after controlling for the total amount of food served.
Keywords: Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), Child Care/Preschool, Food service, Fruits and vegetables, Home, Snacks
Focus Areas: Early Childhood, Nutrition Policy & Programs, Pricing & Economics
Resource Type: Journal Article
Race/Ethnicity: Multi-racial/ethnic
Age Group: Preschool-age children (ages 3 to 5)
State: Washington
Related Research
May 2011
More Nutritious Food is Served in Child-Care Homes Receiving Higher Federal Food Subsidies
More than 3.2 million children are enrolled in child-care programs that participate in and receive reimbursement for food from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). This paper discusses the results of a study which tested the hypothesis that higher CACFP reimbursement rates for food result in higher food MoreSeptember 2007
Measuring, Analyzing and Examining Food Spending and Nutritional Quality in Family Day Care Participants in the USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program
The aim of this project is to examine how food costs and reimbursement rates impact the dietary quality of foods that are served in family day care homes. Taking advantage of a unique policy-analysis opportunity to assess the effects of different subsidy levels for providers in adjacent urban regions, this project will compare nutritional quality MoreDecember 2024