ORCID Profile
0000-0002-1696-5072
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Publisher: Wiley
Date: 27-08-2019
DOI: 10.1002/HPJA.286
Abstract: Despite recommendations, early childhood education and care services do not plan menus in accordance with sector dietary guidelines. This study aimed to examine the following among Australian long day care services: (a) menu planning practices (b) prevalence of menu compliance with sector dietary guidelines and (c) menu planning practices associated with higher menu compliance with sector dietary guidelines. Long day care services within Hunter New England, NSW participated in a pen and paper survey assessing menu planning practices and socio-demographic and service characteristics. Two-week menus were assessed for compliance with sector dietary guidelines, based on the number of servings of food groups and discretionary foods provided per child, per day. Staff from 72 services completed the survey and 69 provided their menu. Results indicated the service cook was fully responsible for planning the menu in 43% of services, and 57% had received written support to assist with menu planning. Service menus were compliant with an average of 0.68 out of six food groups and discretionary foods. In poisson regression models, a shorter menu cycle length (P = .04) and the receipt of training opportunities to support menu planning (P < .01) were significantly associated with higher menu compliance. Menu compliance with sector dietary guidelines is low among participating long day care services. SO WHAT?: The implementation of practices such as shortening of the menu cycle and the provision of training opportunities may assist in the planning of menus that are more compliant with dietary guidelines in this setting.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.YPMED.2017.09.024
Abstract: Children attending centre based childcare services consume as much as two thirds of their daily dietary requirements while in care. However, such services often fail to provide foods that are consistent with guideline recommendations. Developing strategies to improve childcare service adherence to menu dietary guidelines requires a comprehensive understanding of factors that may impede or promote implementation. The primary aim of this systematic review is to describe factors (barriers and facilitators) that may influence the implementation of menu dietary guidelines regarding food provision in centre-based childcare services and to map these factors to a theoretical framework. Over 7000 citations were identified from all sources. Duplicate abstracts were removed and selection criteria applied. Twelve studies (1994-2015) were included in the review. Dual data extraction was conducted and the reported factors were synthesised using the theoretical domains framework (TDF). Barriers and facilitators identified in qualitative studies were classified into 8 and 10 of the 14 TDF domains. Barriers and facilitators reported in quantitative studies covered 6 and 3 TDF domains respectively. The most common domain of which both barriers and facilitators to the implementation of menu dietary guidelines were identified was 'environmental context and resources'. This is the first study that comprehensively assesses literature to identify factors that influence the implementation of menu dietary guidelines in childcare services utilising a theoretical framework. Findings provide guidance to support researchers and policy makers design strategies to improve menu dietary guideline implementation and, as such have the potential to improve food provision in care.
No related grants have been discovered for Kirsty Seward.