Abstract
In 2017, the US Department of Agriculture’s Child and Adult Care Food Program’s (CACFP’s) nutrition standards were updated to improve nutrition and meal quality while remaining feasible for child care providers to implement. We conducted a pre–post study of 13 family child care home (FCCH) providers in Boston, Massachusetts, to compare reported opportunities for training and technical assistance and knowledge of new nutrition standards before the effective date of the updates (October 1, 2017) and 1 year later. The McNemar test was used to test for differences in provider responses. Few FCCH providers received training or technical assistance or had knowledge of most new standards at baseline or at follow-up; however, provider-reported knowledge of the whole-grain standard improved over time (from 6 providers to 12 providers) (P = .03). One year post implementation, FCCH providers still needed additional training, technical assistance, or other support to meet the new nutrition standards for meals served to children.
Highlights
Few Family Child Care Homes (FCCHs) providers received training or technical assistance or had knowledge of most new standards at baseline or at follow-up; provider-reported knowledge of the whole-grain standard improved over time
More than 1 million children in the United States attend statelicensed Family Child Care Homes (FCCHs) [1], settings in which providers care for a small group of children in their homes
We studied the experience of Boston FCCH providers with implementing new CACFP standards before the policy effective date and 1 year later
Summary
More than 1 million children in the United States attend statelicensed Family Child Care Homes (FCCHs) [1], settings in which providers care for a small group of children in their homes. Sponsoring organizations that assist CACFP-participating FCCH providers with the reimbursement process are responsible for helping providers meet CACFP nutrition standards. It is not clear, whether FCCH providers, whose expertise is child care, not nutrition, receive training, technical assistance, and other forms of support sufficient for being fully compliant with the revisions. No studies have explored whether FCCHs are meeting the new standards or whether their staff members receive training, technical assistance, or support to ensure successful adoption. Our first aim was to understand the extent to which FCCH providers had access to training, technical assistance, and other support for the new standards. CACFP nutrition standards for preschool-aged children were revised on October 1, 2017, to include 1) serving a fruit and vegetable with lunch, 2) limiting 100% juice to 1 serving per day, 3) serving whole grains for at least 1 grain component, 4) prohibiting reimbursement for grain-based desserts, 5) serving unflavored skim or 1% milk, and 6) removing on-site frying as a cooking method [8]
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