Infant Child Care Research Articles

Quality content in digital apps: Assessing infant development, parenting, and child care aspects

Quality content in digital apps: Assessing infant development, parenting, and child care aspects

장애통합보육을 실천하는 교사의 어려움과 제도적 방안연구

Objectives The purpose of this study is to identify the challenges of implementing integrated childcare in public childcare centers for infants and toddlers with disabilities and to identify institutional measures to implement integrated childcare.
 Methods Face-to-face interviews were conducted with three disability childcare teachers working in state-run integrated childcare centers in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do, and non-face-to-face interviews were conducted with three early childhood specialists to collect and analyze the data.
 Results The difficulties of teachers practicing disability integrated childcare are, first, the diversification of qualifications for teaching infants and toddlers with disabilities, and second, the lack of education and training opportunities for disability integrated childcare teachers. Third, they are faced with admission criteria that is inconsiderate of the childcare facility, and fourth, the therapeutic importance for children with disabilities is overlooked. The institutional measures to improve the quality of disability integrated childcare are: first, reforming childcare programs to strengthen professionalism; second, establishing an integrated childcare advisory system linked to cooperative institutions, industries and government; and third, establishing customized integrated childcare operation standards.
 Conclusions This study is meaningful in that it suggests institutional measures to improve the quality of integrated childcare for infants and toddlers with disabilities through the voices of childcare teachers and early childhood specialists. It recommends further research that combines a qualitative study that conveys various voices of integrated childcare and a survey on the operational and physical environment to improve the quality of integrated childcare.

보육교직원(보육교사)의 권익보호 관련 문제점 및 개선방안 - 관련법과 자치단체조례 분석을 중심으로 -

This study aimed at 27 local governments that have relevant laws(Infant Child Care Act, Early Childhood Education Act, Educational Public Officials Act, Special Act on the Promotion of Teachers' Status and Protection of Educational Activities) and related ordinances to date, 'protection and promotion of rights and interests of childcare teachers'. By analyzing the Ordinance for (Support)', the legal status of childcare staff (childcare teachers) and the problems of the regulations related to the protection of rights and interests will be examined, and based on this, improvement plans will be suggested. Based on this, the main purpose of the study is to provide basic data for future related laws(Infant Care Act) and local government ordinance enactment/revision and retention integration law(tentative name, Infant Education and Child Care Act).
 Based on the problems found in the research results, we would like to suggest improvements as follows.
 First, the main problems and improvement measures related to the Infant Care Act are: 1) the legal status of childcare teachers; It should be improved so that the status of teachers under the Education Act is secured on an equal basis with kindergarten teachers, and the protection of teaching rights according to the position of teachers is guaranteed. 2) definition of childcare staff(childcare teacher); As in the Early Childhood Education Act, it is desirable to define teachers(directors and nursery teachers) and staff other than teachers. Next, childcare staff duties; As in the Early Childhood Education Act, it should be improved so that it is divided into director, supervisor, head teacher, teacher, and administrative staff to be more specifically defined. 3) Responsibility to protect the rights and interests of childcare teachers; In order to apply the law more effectively, it is necessary to improve the current voluntary regulations into mandatory regulations such as 'The state and local governments must actively promote necessary policies and prepare measures for training childcare teachers, improve working conditions, and protect their rights and interests.' I think it's possible.
 Second, the main problems and improvement measures related to local government ordinances for improving treatment and rights of childcare staff are: 1) Responsibilities of local government heads; It seems desirable to stipulate the two contents together as ‘relevant systems and conditions and necessary policies must be actively pursued’ and ‘efforts must be made to create a social atmosphere’. 2) establishment of a basic (comprehensive) plan; It seems desirable to stipulate that it should be done every five years, and it is desirable that voluntary regulations should be improved to mandatory regulations such as ‘must be established and implemented’. 3) fact-finding; It should be improved with mandatory regulations such as ‘a fact-finding survey should be conducted every three years’. 4) rights protection support project; Since almost all local governments stipulate that 'the head of a local government may promote(implement) a project to improve the treatment of childcare teachers and improve their rights and interests.' 5) Establishment and operation of the Rights Protection Committee; Since the establishment of the most important committee must be established and operated to improve the treatment and rights of childcare staff, it would be desirable to have a mandatory rule rather than an arbitrary rule. 6) establishment of cooperation system; There were only three local governments that stipulated a mandatory regulation. If possible, it would be desirable to establish a cooperative system through mandatory regulations rather than voluntary regulations. 7) Others

Breastfeeding and room-sharing during COVID-19 in the Netherlands: The impact of perinatal healthcare support

AimThe recommendations of 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) and parent-infant room-sharing (RS) are often not followed. As these early caregiving practices may have been affected by the COVID-19-related restrictions, we documented BF and RS practices in the Netherlands (2020−2021) and the effects of perceived perinatal healthcare support. MethodsPregnant women and mothers of an infant younger than 6 months (N = 784) completed online questionnaires (e.g., demographic information, the impact of COVID-19 on their lives aspects, infant childcare practices) twice: at the beginning of the pandemic and when the infant reached 6 months of age. ResultsThe pandemic EBF practices mirrored pre-pandemic Dutch reports (17.8 %; Mduration = 3.4 months), while RS rates and duration seemingly doubled (30.6 %; Mduration = 3.98 months). Higher maternal education (r = 0.18) and multiparity (r = 0.08) were significantly associated with longer EBF, and similarly for education (r = 0.17) and multiparity (r = 0.11) with RS durations. Higher perceived perinatal healthcare support predicted shorter RS duration [β = −0.509, t(5,596) = −2.27, p = .023]. ConclusionWhile the COVID-19 pandemic did not impact EBF, it may have promoted RS. The negative association between perinatal healthcare support and RS may suggest that parents who need more support from their providers also experience more challenges adhering to RS recommendations, yet this hypothesis remains to be corroborated.

Confirmatory factor analysis of the infant feeding styles questionnaire in infant and toddler child care teachers

Early childhood is a critical time of development. Caregiver feeding style, including of child care providers, has been implicated in influencing children's food preferences and obesity. A better understanding of the determinants of child care providers' feeding styles is important as children increasingly receive daily care and nutrition in child care centers. Valid instruments to measure provider feeding styles specifically for infants are needed. This study's objective was to validate, for use with child care providers, the Infant Feeding Styles Questionnaire (IFSQ), an instrument originally designed for parents of infants and toddlers. Study data came from the Baby Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care (Baby NAP SACC) study, a cluster randomized trial, designed to evaluate the efficacy of a six-month-long obesity prevention intervention in child care centers. The IFSQ was administered at baseline and follow-up to infant and toddler teacher participants (n = 244). Scores for baseline IFSQ teacher responses (n = 219) were calculated for the 13 sub-constructs across the five feeding styles. We tested reliability with Cronbach's alpha coefficients and performed confirmatory factor analysis to examine factor loadings and goodness of fit characteristics, modifying constructs to achieve best fit. Reliability coefficients ranged from 0.42 to 0.82 for all sub-constructs. Goodness of fit indices for the final model ranged from: root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) 0.000–0.082; comparative fit index (CFI) 0.943–1.000; Tucker–Lewis index (TLI) 0.906–1.000; and standardized root mean squared error (SRMR) 0.006–0.130. In a sample of racially diverse infant and toddler child care teachers, final models of the laissez-faire, pressuring, and responsive constructs and the restrictive-diet quality sub-construct performed well. Overall model fit was poor for the indulgence construct, but good for solely its corresponding belief items.

Knowledge, Attitude and Involvement of First-Time Fathers in Infant and Young Child Feeding and Care Practices

Father’s role is as important as a mother’s in the early years of life to ensure optimum growth and development of the baby. But in most societies, it is often linked with just earning money for the child and the entire family. The present study was undertaken to assess the knowledge, attitude and involvement of first-time fathers in infant and young child feeding and care practices, and their relationship with each other. The influence of select personal and family factors of the fathers was also studied on these aspects. A total of 60 first-time fathers having only one child in the age group of 6 months to 3 years residing in the National Capital Region of India constituted the study sample. A questionnaire schedule was administered to gather information on general and family characteristics, child’s profile, and knowledge, attitudes and involvement of the fathers in infant and young child feeding and care practices. Findings revealed that the total knowledge scores of maximum fathers (43%) were ‘average’. Nearly 60% and 38% fathers respectively had ‘very good’ and ‘good’ total attitude scores. High percentage of fathers had ‘good’ (43%) and ‘very good’ (30%) total involvement scores related to their infant/young child feeding and care practices. A weak but significant positive correlation was found only between knowledge and involvement scores of the fathers (r=0.277, p<0.05). Attitude scores of the fathers were found to be influenced by their occupation while their involvement scores were influenced by their age, and monthly family income. The study indicated that even though the knowledge of the first-time fathers regarding infant and young child feeding practices was average, their attitude regarding these aspects was good, and they also showed a good involvement in these practices. The existing knowledge gaps need to be catered to through suitable timely interventions in order to ensure that fathers can also proactively contribute towards the feeding and care of their infants and young children.

Evaluation of food and nutrition security status of Nigeria preschool children towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals 1,2,3 - A review

Child nutrition is essential to any country's food and nutrition security status. It goes beyond food security to encompass all the components of child well-being and cognitive development. It includes infant and young child feeding practices, care practices, and hygiene. Africa accounts for the highest prevalence of child malnutrition and mortality worldwide. The complexity and interconnectedness of the components of child nutrition in developing countries are yet to be well conceptualized. Due to a high poverty rate, economic shock, and conflicts in many sub-Sahara countries like Nigeria. Nigeria, the most populated country in this region, records a high prevalence of child malnutrition, morbidity, and mortality. High poverty, poor policies, poor dietary intake, and care practices among households have become a significant concern and a public health issue, especially as the country navigates toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 and the Africa agenda 2063. This review brings home the contributions of the multidimensional drivers of child nutrition to Nigerian children's overall health outcomes and food security status. In addition, it proffers possible solutions to these challenges to ensure the attainment of both the SDGs and Africa agenda indicators that address hunger, poverty, and the overall well-being of children. The study also emphasizes the importance of optimal nutrition to ensure that children reach their full potential, reduce the risk of childhood illness and chronic diseases in adulthood, and ultimately contribute significantly to the nation's labour force, productivity, and gross domestic product (GDP). Therefore, the study explores available online resources, peer-reviewed articles, books, and relevant reports from official websites that identify the drivers of children’s food and nutrition security status from Nigeria's perspective. Overall, in Nigeria, most preschool children do not consume sufficiently safe and nutritious diets for optimal growth and development; hence, they are just surviving but not thriving. Key words: Childhood, nutrition, preschool, components, pandemic, children, SDGs, Nigeria

어린이집 원장이 생각하는 보육교사 휴게시간 운영의 의미와 고충

Objectives This study explored the meaning and difficulties of the head of the daycare center due to the mandatory operation of rest time. Methods For this purpose, in-depth interviews were conducted from August 20 to September 20, 2021 with 7 principles of child care centers in Seoul using the phenomenological and qualitative research method of Colaizzi (1978). Data analysis is used by the phenomenological rearch method of Colaizzi (1978) to repeatedly read the transcribed content, also grasp the overall context of the experience of operating break time, explore related experiences. therefore a collection of topics is categorized, so that can reveal this structure and finally Four thematic collections and ten constructive meanings were derived. Results A total of 4 themes and 10 compositional meanings were derived from the meaning and grievances of child care center director’ thought about daycare center teachers' compulsory rest time operation. The meaning of the break time operation was shown to firstly secure private time for teachers, and to improve the quality of welfare of childcare teachers by recharging energy through rest. Secondly, the director of the daycare center considered it meaningful to change the positive perception of parents and the director himself that childcare teachers have a right and secure a rest time through break time operation. The difficulties in operating break time are. First, the difficulty of operating an institution that does not take into account the position of the director who is the operator of the daycare center, the director who takes notice of the daycare teachers, and the operational ability of the director between the break time system and practice due to the possibility of safety accidents for infants and young children. As a result, relationships with members were difficult. The second difficulty of the daycare center director is that he constantly handles work even during breaks, intermittent breaks time for teachers due to individual childcare for infants and toddlers, and the lack of work of assistant teachers replaced to ensure breaks for homeroom teachers. It appeared as an obligatory break time, which could be just a pleasant illusion due to the ambiguous boundary of rest. Conclusions Through this study, the child care center principle should build a partnership that strengthens his/her ability to flexibly respond to the legal system as a manager, and the teachers and directors are more familiar with applying the break time-related system etc., should be given more benefits, and it is considered that a continuous fact-finding survey on the operation of break time is necessary.

Qualitative evidence syntheses of attitudes and preferences to inform guidelines on infant feeding in the context of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) transmission risk.

BackgroundBreast-feeding holds considerable potential to reduce infant mortality. Feeding choices, already complex, take on additional complexity against a backdrop of the risk of transmissible Ebola Virus. This review describes the factors that influence infant feeding and attitudes of pregnant women, mothers, family members and health practitioners, policy makers and providers (midwives) concerning infant feeding when there is a risk of Mother-to-Child (MTC) transmission of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).MethodologyA systematic review of qualitative studies identified through rigorous searches of thirteen online databases and additional citation searches of included studies was undertaken. Search terms included breast-feeding, breast-feeding, infant feeding; Ebola; and qualitative, interview(s) and findings. Independent extraction of data by two reviewers using predefined extraction forms. Studies were assessed using the CASP Qualitative checklist.Principal findings5219 references were screened. 38 references related specifically to Ebola, and five papers met the inclusion criteria with data gathered from two settings: Guinea and Sierra Leone. The EVD outbreak had a significant impact on beliefs, attitudes, and resources to support infant feeding practices negatively affecting the nutritional status of children. The evidence from these studies highlight the need for guidance and appropriate psychosocial support need to be available to mothers who display symptoms and become infected and to front-line staff who are giving advice. Communities need to be engaged because stigma and fear may hinder uptake of appropriate interventions. The EVD outbreak caused multi-level system disruption akin to that seen following a natural disaster, meaning that logistics and coordination are critical and need adequate resourcing. Food production and distribution, and malnutrition screening are also disrupted and thereby compounding compromised nutritional status. The limited number of relevant studies highlights the need for further primary research, particularly in translation of messages to local settings.ConclusionsAn EVD outbreak causes multi-level disruption that negatively impacts infant feeding and child care practices. Negative impacts have multiple causes and successful planning for Ebola outbreaks requires that nutrition of infants and young children is a priority. Lessons from the Ebola pandemic have wider applicability to other pandemic contexts including Covid-19.

Assessing the reliability of phone surveys to measure reproductive, maternal and child health knowledge among pregnant women in rural India: a feasibility study

ObjectivesEfforts to understand the factors influencing the uptake of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child health and nutrition (RMNCH&N) services in high disease burden low-resource settings have often focused on face-to-face surveys...

Use of Child Care Attenuates the Link Between Decreased Maternal Sleep and Increased Depressive Symptoms.

Sleep disruption is common among postpartum women and is linked with depression. Child care may alleviate parenting stress and protect new mothers against symptoms of depression. Mothers from the NURTURE study, a birth cohort of 666 women of full-term infants, completed questionnaires during home visits when their infants were 3, 6, 9, and 12 months old. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and the Perceived Stress Scale were used to measure depressive symptoms and stress, respectively. Mothers reported total nightly sleep duration for themselves and their infants, child care arrangements, marital status, and income. We used mixed-effects models adjusting for income, marital status, and child age to examine the indirect effect of infants' sleep on maternal mental health through mothers' sleep and assessed whether patterns differed depending on child care. Decreased maternal sleep mediated the association between infant sleep and maternal mental health. When infants slept 1 hour less than usual, mothers slept 7 fewer minutes (B = 0.19, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.01 to 0.27) and reported more depressive symptoms (B = -0.27, 95% CI, -0.43 to -0.11) and stress (B = -0.33, 95% CI -0.58 to -0.09). Child care moderated the indirect effect; decreased maternal sleep was not associated with increased depressive symptoms (and was not a mediator) when mothers had child care (indirect effect = -0.001, 95% CI, -0.03 to 0.03). Use of infant child care reduced the link between maternal sleep and depressive symptoms. Regular access to child care may be a method to mitigate feelings of depression for new mothers.

육아와 조부모: 온라인 카페 게시글 토픽모델 분석

In this paper, we identified key terms and latent topics in posts on online forums, called “online cafés” in Korea. We analyzed 41,699 online posts that mentioned at least one of the 70 Korean terms related to “child care” as well as one of the 67 terms related to “grandparents”. The data were posted online between 2016 and 2019 on Naver and Daum, two leading portal sites in Korea. Using topic modeling with Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), we selected and named 16 topics, and then grouped them into four themes. The first theme was “grandparents and grandchildren,” which included four topics: grandparent-grandchild relationships (T1), the everyday lives of adult children and grandchildren (T2), the roles of parents and grandparents (T3), and grandparent’s leisure time (T4). The second theme was “care in early childhood” with four topics: birth order and number of children (T5), childbirth and postnatal care (T6), infant child care (T7), and attachment (T8). The third theme was “child care and support for parents” with four topics: work and child care (T9), day care and kindergarten (T10), parenting information (T11), and parenting education and counseling (T12). The last theme was “marriage and gender roles” with four topics: marital life (T13), “dok-bak-yuk-ah” (parenting solo) (T14), in-laws (T15), and divorce (T16). Our results highlight that online discussions about grandparents include a variety of topics in the context of child care, suggesting that grandparents are not only child care providers but are also actively involved in the everyday lives of their adult children and grandchildren.

Research Trends in Infant Assessment: Focusing on Infant Teacher and Child Care Center as Research Objects

Research Trends in Infant Assessment: Focusing on Infant Teacher and Child Care Center as Research Objects

Child Care and Early Education for Infants and Toddlers

Child Care and Early Education for Infants and Toddlers

Infant and Toddler Child-Care Quality and Stability in Relation to Proximal and Distal Academic and Social Outcomes.

This study considered the quality and stability of infant and toddler nonparental child care from 6 to 36months in relation to language, social, and academic skills measured proximally at 36 months and distally at kindergarten. Quality was measured separately as caregiver-child verbal interactions and caregiver sensitivity, and stability was measured as having fewer sequential child-care caregivers. This longitudinal examination involved a subsample (N=1,055) from the Family Life Project, a representative sample of families living in rural counties in the United States. Structural equation modeling revealed that children who experienced more positive caregiver-child verbal interactions had higher 36-month language skills, which indirectly led to higher kindergarten academic and social skills. Children who experienced more caregiver stability had higher kindergarten social skills.

Implementing Care Groups for improved maternal and child nutrition: Critical factors for success from the Amalima program in rural Zimbabwe

Over the last decade Zimbabwe has made noteworthy progress in reducing both underweight and wasting in children under the age of five years, however one in four children in Zimbabwe is stunted. The rate in the decline of the number of children stunted still falls short of meeting the World Health Assembly target, and it goes without saying that effective, innovative community-based strategies are required by the government and development partners to accelerate the rate of stunting reduction. This paper presents experiences from using the Care Group approach for promoting improved maternal, infant and young child nutrition (MIYCN) and care based on lessons from the Amalima program, a seven-year United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Food for Peace intervention. The Amalima program has been promoting Care Groups as a community and family centred approach to improve maternal and child nutrition in Zimbabwe. Care Groups are an innovative community-based strategy that has been rolled out as part of the Amalima program activities in four food and nutrition insecure districts in Zimbabwe. The final programme evaluation suggested the program succeeded in increasing the exclusive breastfeeding rate and reducing levels of nutritional stunting among children under two years. In the present discussion paper, we present the key lessons learned and strategies we believe may have contributed to making Care Group implementation effective; we highlight the modifications that we made in Care Group implementation to ensure a context appropriate approach; and we discuss how Care Groups can be integrated into the Ministry of Health and Child Care structure. The critical factors for successful Care Group implementation have been grouped into five broad categories: conduct formative research; ensure context specific approaches & adaptive management; leverage on social capital and cohesion; invest in human capital; prioritise quality assurance & reviews.

The Multiple Mediating Effects of Empowerment and Organizational Commitment on the Relationship between Emotional Leadership of a Head Teacher and Infant Child Care Teachers's Role-performance

The Multiple Mediating Effects of Empowerment and Organizational Commitment on the Relationship between Emotional Leadership of a Head Teacher and Infant Child Care Teachers's Role-performance

Child care deserts in New York State: Prekindergarten implementation and community factors related to the capacity to care for infants and toddlers

Access to high quality child care provides a valuable support to families and communities as it both enables parental employment and provides a safe and developmentally appropriate place for children. Yet, access to child care for children under age three is uneven, with some communities experiencing child care “deserts” (Jessen-Howard et al., 2018). This paper assesses the infant and toddler child care capacity – the proportion of age-eligible children for which there are available child care slots – of communities across New York State. Using data from the NY State Education Department (670 school districts in the most recent year of available data), the NYS Office of Children and Family Services (about 18,000 registered child care providers), and the National Center for Education Statistics definitions of locale, we examine how child care capacity relates to school district and community factors over 9 years (2007–2016). Using negative binomial regression, we see overall stability in capacity for infant and toddler child care in New York State, but important variation by demographic factors and geography. Non-urban communities and communities with greater levels of student poverty have less capacity for infants and toddlers. Urban communities, communities with publicly funded prekindergarten and greater levels of minority children are associated with greater capacity. Importantly, in non-urban communities only (and especially in rural communities), we find an interaction effect that documents significantly reduced capacity for infant and toddler child care in communities also implementing public prekindergarten.

Use of Mother Child Protection Card for Improving Infant Feeding Practices

For the last four decades India had invested in interventions for improving household food security, supplementary feeding programmes and health care to pre-school children. However under-nutrition rates in under-five children continue to be high. Poor infant and young child feeding and caring practices had been identified as the major modifiable factors associated with under-nutrition especially in the critical first two years. Mother Child Protection Card (MCPC) was introduced as the critical intervention tool for combating these two factors and improving nutritional status of the children. A community based mixed longitudinal study was taken up in urban low middle income group mothers with under-three children to assess feasibility and impact of using MCPC as a supportive tool for nutrition and health education regarding infant and young child feeding and care during illness. Mothers readily accepted MCPC, kept it safely and produced it when requested. MCPC with authentic pictorial messages was used by all health and nutrition front line workers and research team; this practice ensured uniformity in nutrition and health education messages. Over 90% of infants at 2 months and over 2/3rd at 5 months were solely breast-fed. By 8th month almost all infants received semi-solid food. Almost all families accessed health care during illness and followed the advice regarding feeding during illness and convalescence. As a result the mean z scores for weight-for-age did not show any deterioration in the first year. MCPC is a useful tool in providing nutrition and health education and improving infant feeding practices.

영유아 보육인권의 본질과 쟁점에 관한 연구

영유아 보육인권의 본질과 쟁점에 관한 연구