Early Childhood Nutrition-Related Policy, System, and Environmental-Focused Evaluation: A Qualitative Study Exploring Knowledge, Barriers, and Opportunities

IF 2.3 3区医学 Q2 EDUCATION, SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES

Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior Pub Date : 2025-07-01 DOI:10.1016/j.jneb.2025.02.006

Elder Garcia Varela PhD, MS, CPH, CHES , Alaina M. Mitchell BS , Isabella Bolivar BS , Megan A. McVay PhD , Karla P. Shelnutt PhD, RD , David Miller PhD , Amy R. Mobley PhD, RD, FAND

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objective

To explore stakeholders’ perceptions of the barriers, facilitators, and existing needs associated with evaluating policy, system, and environmental (PSE) strategies focused on early childhood nutrition within Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) programming using the Capabilities, Opportunities, and Motivations of Behavior Model.

Methods

Stakeholders (n = 32) implementing and evaluating SNAP-Ed-approved PSE nutrition-related strategies across the US participated in virtual semistructured interviews. Audio transcripts were deidentified, coded, and analyzed manually by 2 research assistants using thematic analysis with a hybrid deductive and inductive coding approach.

Results

Participants described existing evaluation tools as primarily descriptive, focusing on the PSE change process, implementation details, and reach. While recognizing the value and efficacy of current tools, participants highlighted the need for new metrics to assess the medium- and long-term behavioral impacts and sustainability of these PSE strategies.

Conclusions and Implications

There is a need to develop and validate a feasible nutrition-related PSE change evaluation tool that measures behavioral outcomes and sustainability to fully understand the effectiveness of PSE change strategies in SNAP-Ed programs affecting young children.

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儿童早期营养相关政策、制度和环境评价：一项探索知识、障碍和机会的定性研究。

目的：利用行为模型的能力、机会和动机，探讨利益相关者对在补充营养援助计划-教育（SNAP-Ed）规划中评估儿童早期营养的政策、系统和环境（PSE）战略相关的障碍、促进因素和现有需求的看法。方法：在美国实施和评估snap - ed批准的PSE营养相关策略的利益相关者（n = 32）参加了虚拟半结构化访谈。音频文本由2名研究助理使用混合演绎和归纳编码方法的主题分析手动去识别、编码和分析。结果：参与者将现有的评估工具主要描述为描述性的，关注于PSE变更过程、实现细节和范围。在认识到当前工具的价值和有效性的同时，与会者强调需要新的指标来评估这些PSE策略的中长期行为影响和可持续性。结论和意义：有必要开发和验证一个可行的营养相关PSE变化评估工具，以衡量行为结果和可持续性，以充分了解PSE变化策略在SNAP-Ed项目中对幼儿的影响。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 医学-学科教育

CiteScore

4.20

自引率

11.50%

发文量

379

审稿时长

44 days

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.