Eating Healthy, Growing Healthy: Impact of a Multi-Strategy Nutrition Education on the Assortments of Beverages Served in Preschools, Poland.

Joanna Myszkowska-Ryciak,Anna Harton

doi:10.3390/ijerph15071355

Abstract

Day-care centers are the ideal place for conducting nutrition intervention to improve children’s nutrition. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a multi-strategy childcare-base intervention in improving compliance with nutrition guidelines regarding beverages supply in preschools. The intervention included the staff training, audit, feedback, and ongoing support provided by trained educators. The emphasis was put on adequate nutrition, including recommended beverages, reducing sugar-sweetened beverages and increasing water availability. Enrolled were 478 full-board preschools from Poland (4.2% of all preschools in the country). The assortment of beverages served to children within ten consecutive days was assessed based on menus and inventory reports at the baseline, and three months after the intervention. Education increased significantly the percentage of preschools serving water to meals and between meals (67% vs. 83% and 93% vs. 99%, respectively), fruit/herbal tea (75% vs. 81%), and natural fruit juices (46% vs. 56%). The percentage of preschools offering fruit/soft drinks decreased from 23% to 15%. This study shows that education has a great potential in improving the assortment of beverages served in preschools. Future research is needed to determine barriers in better optimizing the assortment of beverages in preschool settings.

Highlights

Consuming an adequate amount of fluids is necessary for the proper functioning of the body [1].For the nutritional value of a diet, the quality of fluids consumed is important
This study shows that education has a great potential in improving the assortment of beverages served in preschools
The majority of the examined day care centres (DCCs) failed to meet the recommendation for proper beverage selection in the preschool menu; three out of four preschools sweetened drinks served to children, and less than 10% offered milk as a beverage [4]

Summary

Introduction

Consuming an adequate amount of fluids is necessary for the proper functioning of the body [1].For the nutritional value of a diet, the quality of fluids consumed is important. The data show that the assortment of drinks served to children in day care centres (DCCs) is not always in line with the recommendations [4,5]. The majority of the examined DCCs failed to meet the recommendation for proper beverage selection in the preschool menu; three out of four preschools sweetened drinks served to children, and less than 10% offered milk as a beverage [4]. Considering that children in preschools spend up to 10 h a day, and consume from 50 up to 75% of the daily food intake when in care [6,7], the improvement of the quality of served beverages is crucial for improving the quality of their diet. Preschools’ staff have a direct influence on the type of food products purchased and menu offered, education addressed to this group seems to be a promising tool to improve the quality of beverages served and, the entire menu [8]

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Discussion

Conclusion