- Title
- Assessing the implementation of healthy eating and physical activity policies and practices in the family day care setting: A cross-sectional study
- Creator
- Lum, Melanie; Grady, Alice; Falkiner, Maryann; Jones, Jannah; Finch, Meghan; Green, Sue; Herrmann, Vanessa; Hall, Alix; Yoong, Serene
- Relation
- ARC.DE170100382 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DE170100382
- Relation
- Health Promotion Journal of Australia Vol. 32, Issue S2, p. 116-125
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hpja.420
- Publisher
- John Wiley & Sons
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2021
- Description
- Issue addressed: While the family day care setting provides a unique opportunity to improve child health, few studies have assessed obesity prevention practices of this setting. This study aimed to examine the (a) prevalence of implementation of evidence-based healthy eating and physical activity policies and practices among schemes (ie overarching governing agency) and educators in the family day care setting in Australia; and (b) associations between educator socio-demographic characteristics and implementation of healthy eating and physical activity practices. Methods: Family day care schemes (n = 16) responsible for educators (n = 174) located in the Hunter New England region of NSW participated in a telephone survey in 2018, reporting their implementation of evidence-based healthy eating and physical activity policies and practices. Linear mixed regression analyses were used to determine whether educator characteristics were associated with higher percentages of implementation. Results: Few schemes had comprehensive breastfeeding (0%) and screen time (19%) policies. However, the majority of educators (81%) communicated with families when lunchboxes were not consistent with guidelines. Educators implemented an average of 64.3% of practices assessed. Educators located in higher socioeconomic areas implemented a significantly higher percentage of practices than those in lower socioeconomic areas (P < .000). Educator years of experience was positively associated with percentage of implementation (P = .009). Conclusions: The implementation of obesity prevention policies and practices in the family day care setting is variable and associated with educator socio-demographic characteristics. So what?: There is a need to support family day care schemes to improve their obesity prevention environments, particularly those related to policies.
- Subject
- children; health behaviours; obesity; nutrition; physical activity; SDG 3; Sustainable Development Goals
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1475483
- Identifier
- uon:49567
- Identifier
- ISSN:1036-1073
- Language
- eng
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