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Differences in Utilized Mealtime Strategies Between Home‐and Center‐Based Daycare Providers and Parents
Author(s) -
Luchini Virginia,
Lee SooYeun,
Donovan Sharon
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.732.3
Subject(s) - day care , medicine , day care center , nursing , family medicine , psychology
It is estimated that one‐third of children under age 5 are enrolled in non‐relative childcare arrangements (daycare), where they are typically served a minimum of one meal per day. Although millions of children attend daycare, little is known about the mealtime strategies used by teachers at daycare and whether those differ from strategies used by parents at home. Herein, differences in utilized mealtime strategies between parents and daycare providers were investigated. Families of 3‐5 years‐old children enrolled in home‐based (HBDC; n=25) or center‐based (CBDC; n=26) daycare and the care providers were recruited to participate in the study. Parents completed the Parent Mealtime Survey and daycare providers completed the Teacher Mealtime Survey, which contained the same 14 mealtime strategies. Parents and providers were asked to rate how often each strategy was utilized on a 1‐5 scale from always to never. Responses were dichotomized into Yes (1‐3)/No (4‐5) response categories. Chi‐square analysis revealed that 6 mealtime strategies differed (p<0.05) between parents and daycare providers, 2 differed (p<0.05) between HBDC providers and HBDC parents, and 8 differed (p<0.05) between CBDC providers and CBDC parents. Thus, children are exposed to different mealtime strategies in daycare and home environments, although HBDC providers and HBDC parents use more similar strategies than CBDC providers and CBDC parents. Preschool is an important time for establishing life‐long eating behaviors. Inconsistent messages around mealtimes between daycare and home may detrimentally impact food acceptance and mealtime behaviors. Funded by the Christopher Family Foundation Food and Family Program.