{"title":"Fruit and Vegetable Preparation Styles in Family Child Care Homes Caring for 2–5-Year-Old Children Across Oklahoma in 2020","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.jneb.2024.05.025","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Many US preschoolers receive two-thirds of their dietary requirements while at Family Child Care Homes (FCCH) that are critical settings to offer fruits and vegetables, but less is known if these are served fresh or processed, which may include excess added sugar and sodium.</p></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><p>This study explored the fruit and vegetable preparation styles, across one day in FCCHs catering to young children (aged 2 to 5 years).</p></div><div><h3>Study Design, Settings, Participants</h3><p>This descriptive study examined baseline measures of a virtual intervention study, delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020). Sixty-three licensed FCCH providers across rural Oklahoma, participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program were included. One day's meal photographs and detailed recipes for breakfast, lunch, and snack were collected. Fruit and vegetable preparation style by meal was calculated in SPSS.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>FCCH providers were 100% women, 43.1 ± 10.2 years old. For breakfast, canned fruits or vegetables was served 2.5 times greater than that of frozen fruits or vegetables (4.4% frozen and 11.1% canned) and canned fruits were served 6 times greater than that of fresh (73.3% fresh vs. 11.1% canned), and 6.8% served fruit juice. For lunch, approximately, half of the providers served fresh or frozen vegetables for lunch (35.6% fresh and 15.6% frozen), while more than one-third (44.4%) served canned vegetables, 0.0% dried vegetables, and 4.4% fruit juice. For snack, 11.1% served fresh and 0% frozen, canned, or dried vegetables; and 37.8% served fresh, 2.2% frozen, 13.3% canned, and 4.4% dried fruits and 13.3 % served fruit juice.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Since canned foods are served more than that of the frozen foods and high in sodium, reducing the use of canned fruits and vegetables and promoting fresh and frozen equivalents is important to improve the nutrient quality of foods served in FCCHs. Future research can explore strategies to promote healthier preparation styles, such as fresh or frozen foods, over canned options.</p></div><div><h3>Funding</h3><p>USDA</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50107,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1499404624001258","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"EDUCATION, SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background
Many US preschoolers receive two-thirds of their dietary requirements while at Family Child Care Homes (FCCH) that are critical settings to offer fruits and vegetables, but less is known if these are served fresh or processed, which may include excess added sugar and sodium.
Objective
This study explored the fruit and vegetable preparation styles, across one day in FCCHs catering to young children (aged 2 to 5 years).
Study Design, Settings, Participants
This descriptive study examined baseline measures of a virtual intervention study, delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020). Sixty-three licensed FCCH providers across rural Oklahoma, participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program were included. One day's meal photographs and detailed recipes for breakfast, lunch, and snack were collected. Fruit and vegetable preparation style by meal was calculated in SPSS.
Results
FCCH providers were 100% women, 43.1 ± 10.2 years old. For breakfast, canned fruits or vegetables was served 2.5 times greater than that of frozen fruits or vegetables (4.4% frozen and 11.1% canned) and canned fruits were served 6 times greater than that of fresh (73.3% fresh vs. 11.1% canned), and 6.8% served fruit juice. For lunch, approximately, half of the providers served fresh or frozen vegetables for lunch (35.6% fresh and 15.6% frozen), while more than one-third (44.4%) served canned vegetables, 0.0% dried vegetables, and 4.4% fruit juice. For snack, 11.1% served fresh and 0% frozen, canned, or dried vegetables; and 37.8% served fresh, 2.2% frozen, 13.3% canned, and 4.4% dried fruits and 13.3 % served fruit juice.
Conclusions
Since canned foods are served more than that of the frozen foods and high in sodium, reducing the use of canned fruits and vegetables and promoting fresh and frozen equivalents is important to improve the nutrient quality of foods served in FCCHs. Future research can explore strategies to promote healthier preparation styles, such as fresh or frozen foods, over canned options.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior (JNEB), the official journal of the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior, is a refereed, scientific periodical that serves as a global resource for all professionals with an interest in nutrition education; nutrition and physical activity behavior theories and intervention outcomes; complementary and alternative medicine related to nutrition behaviors; food environment; food, nutrition, and physical activity communication strategies including technology; nutrition-related economics; food safety education; and scholarship of learning related to these areas.
The purpose of JNEB is to document and disseminate original research and emerging issues and practices relevant to these areas worldwide. The Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior welcomes evidence-based manuscripts that provide new insights and useful findings related to nutrition education research, practice and policy. The content areas of JNEB reflect the diverse interests in nutrition and physical activity related to public health, nutritional sciences, education, behavioral economics, family and consumer sciences, and eHealth, including the interests of community-based nutrition-practitioners. As the Society''s official journal, JNEB also includes policy statements, issue perspectives, position papers, and member communications.