Healthy eating interventions delivered in early childhood education and care settings for improving the diet of children aged six years and below

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sze Lin Yoong ◽  
Melanie Lum ◽  
Jacklyn Jackson ◽  
Luke Wolfenden ◽  
Courtney Barnes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Healthy Eating ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education And Care

scholarly journals The Impact of COVID-19 on Eating Environments and Activity in Early Childhood Education and Care in Alberta, Canada: A Cross-Sectional Study

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 4247
Author(s):  
Lynne M. Z. Lafave ◽  
Alexis D. Webster ◽  
Ceilidh McConnell ◽  
Nadine Van Wyk ◽  
Mark R. Lafave
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Healthy Eating ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
The Impact

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) environments influence children’s early development and habits that track across a lifespan. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of COVID-19 government-mandated guidelines on physical activity (PA) and eating environments in ECEC settings. This cross-sectional study involved the recruitment of 19 ECEC centers pre-COVID (2019) and 15 ECEC centers during COVID (2020) in Alberta, Canada (n = 34 ECEC centers; n = 83 educators; n = 361 preschoolers). Educators completed the CHEERS (Creating Healthy Eating and activity Environments Survey) and MEQ (Mindful Eating Questionnaire) self-audit tools while GT3X+ ActiGraph accelerometers measured preschooler PA. The CHEERS healthy eating environment subscale was greater during COVID-19 (5.97 ± 0.52; 5.80 ± 0.62; p = 0.02) and the overall score positively correlated with the MEQ score (r = 0.20; p = 0.002). Preschoolers exhibited greater hourly step counts (800 ± 189; 649 ± 185), moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) (9.3 ± 3.0 min/h; 7.9 ± 3.2 min/h) and lower sedentary times (42.4 ± 3.9 min/h; 44.1 ± 4.9 min/h) during COVID-19 compared to pre-COVID, respectively (p < 0.05). These findings suggest the eating environment and indices of child physical activity were better in 2020, which could possibly be attributed to a change in government-mandated COVID-19 guideline policy.

Exploring Sense of Community among Early Childhood Education and Care Professionals through the Supporting Nutrition for Australian Childcare (SNAC) Website

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 23-32
Author(s):  
Ruth Wallace ◽  
Leesa Costello ◽  
Amanda Devine
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Healthy Eating ◽  
Sense Of Community ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Online Community Of Practice

OPTIMAL NUTRITION IN THE early years of life is essential for long-term health. The Australian early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector offers a significant health promotion setting, but evidence indicates that the potential to promote healthy eating environments is not fully utilised. Supporting Nutrition for Australian Childcare (SNAC) is a web-based nutrition education resource developed to support ECEC professionals in providing healthy eating environments. SNAC provided additional support through forums intended to foster an online community of practice in this space. This particular aspect of the study sought to understand if ECEC staff demonstrated a sense of community by means of engaging with the website, and if they valued this as an additional means of support. After 12 months, the SNAC community had 1045 members. The sense of community was measured quantitatively with SCI-2 (n = 183), and qualitatively by netnographic analysis of conversation threads (n = 1179) and interviews (n = 42). Shared emotional connection was the only statistically significant SCI-2 construct; and although social ties between individual members were not apparent, there was a stronger connection between some members and the first researcher. SNAC continues to develop as an important online community of practice in the ECEC sector and is valued by those striving to provide healthy eating environments. It is a valuable platform on which to base future interventions.

Social Investment and Childcare Expansion

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margarita León
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Perfect Match ◽  
Preschool Education ◽  
Conceptual Level ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education And Care

The chapter first examines at a conceptual level the links between theories of social investment and childcare expansion. Although ‘the perfect match’ between the two is often taken for granted in the specialized literature as well as in policy papers, it is here argued that a more nuance approach that ‘unpacks’ this relationship is needed. The chapter will then look for elements of variation in early childhood education and care (ECEC) expansion. Despite an increase in spending over the last two decades in many European and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, wide variation still exists in the way in which ECEC develops. A trade-off is often observed between coverage and quality of provision. A crucial dividing line that determines, to a large extent, the quality of provision in ECEC is the increasing differentiation between preschool education for children aged 3 and above and childcare for younger children.

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