FP13 Nebraska Team Nutrition Pilots a Nutrition Education Intervention to Improve Childcare Providers Perceived Feasibility and Usability of the EatPlayGrow™ Curriculum

Abstract

Objective There were two objectives: determine the impact of NE TN pilot project on childcare provider perceived feasibility and usability of the EPG curriculum and explore the effectiveness of NE TN pilot project on childcare provider's self-efficacy in providing nutrition and physical activity education to children in early childhood classrooms. Description NE TN adopted the EatPlayGrow™ curriculum to develop an interactive nutrition and physical activity (PA) education training program for childcare providers. Five (4 nutrition lessons, 1 PA lesson) out of 11 lessons of EPG curriculum were included in the training. An educational kit was developed including: lessons’ objectives, materials for the activities, and books suggested from the curriculum. Twenty (n = 20) childcare providers were recruited to participate in this pilot project. The recruited providers taught in (n = 5 classroom centers, n = 5 in-home day care). All participants participate in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). Participants were provided with the educational kits to utilize for seven weeks and were instructed to provide nutrition and PA lessons to their children in their facilities. This project shows the majority of participants were either moderately or highly confident in their ability to incorporate nutrition and PA education. Data also indicates the majority of the participants plan on incorporating at least some activities from the curriculum in their regular lesson plans. Evaluation Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to assess childcare providers’ feasibility, usability and self-efficacy in providing nutrition and physical activity education to children in their care. A survey was distributed before the training and after seven weeks of completing the training. Conclusion and Implications Interactive training is a feasible method for increasing child care providers’ self-efficacy in delivering nutrition and PA education. Interactive and hands on nutrition and physical activity curriculum training needs to be further evaluated for to determine possible outcomes in childcare settings. Grant Year 2016