Collaborative Development of a Recipe and Menu Planning Guide for Child Care Providers.

Abstract

LEARNING OUTCOME: To identify the components in the development and evaluation of a recipe and menu planning guide for child care providers based on dietary guidelines.In an effort to introduce the basic concepts of the Dietary Guidelines to child care providers, a project was undertaken to create a recipe and menu planning guide. At the onset of the project (Phase 1), an advisory committee of experts in child care feeding was formed to provide input, direction and evaluation. Representatives of family day care homes and child care centers provided ideas for the guide by participating in one of five focus groups conducted across Pennsylvania. Each session was conducted by a trained moderator, audio taped, transcribed and analyzed. Phase 2 consisted of the development of the guide itself. A total of 50 recipes were collected and/or developed, tested for acceptance and ease of preparation by the developers and selected providers, and nutritionally analyzed. The result is twenty weeks of CACFP approved menu cycles meeting the 1995 Dietary Guidelines for total fat and saturated fat Menu planning tools also were created as were sections on child nutrition, food safety, educational activities and references. Provider input regarding layout, content and usability of all sections was solicited during this phase. Phase 3 consisted of a formative evaluation focusing on the recipe and menu planning sections. Current menus cycles (10 – 14 days) were requested of all sponsor agencies attending a CACFP sponsor workshop. Collected menus were scored to determine approximate fat content Additionally, individual child care providers conducted on site evaluations of both the menu planning tool and the recipes. Menu planners were asked questions related to use of the menus, recipes, and the menu planning tools. Food preparers were questioned about ease of implementation, availability of ingredients, changes to recipes or menu cycles, acceptability by the children, etc. In addition, 22 children (ages 4 – 5 years) were interviewed and asked their acceptance of the new foods. The final result, a two-color 89 page guide, represents the collaborative efforts of child care providers and sponsors, the expert advisory committee, the developers and the funding agency. This project was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Nutrition Education & Training Program through the Pennsylvania Department of Education.