ArticleBMJ open2017
Association between childcare educators' practices and preschoolers' physical activity and dietary intake: a cross-sectional analysis.
Article in BMJ open, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 56 citations in OpenAlex.
- Physical activity and sedentary time of youth in structured settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2020Pooled it
- Association Between Food Insecurity and Diet Quality Among Early Care and Education Providers in the Pennsylvania Head Start Program.Preventing chronic disease · 2021Trial
- Effectiveness of the Healthy Start-Départ Santé approach on physical activity, healthy eating and fundamental movement skills of preschoolers attending childcare centres: a randomized controlled trial.BMC public health · 2020Trial
- Enhancing healthy eating and active environments in early learning settings: findings from the eHealth study.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Development and validation of an illustrated questionnaire on healthy eating practices among Korean preschool children.Nutrition research and practice · 2025Article
- Beyond Local Champions: Contextual Factors Shaping the Implementation of Healthy Eating Interventions in Centre-Based Care - A Qualitative Study With Educators and Cooks.Health promotion journal of Australia : official journal of Australian Association of Health Promotion Professionals · 2025Article
- Design, protocol and baseline data of Nurturing Healthy Teachers, a cluster non-randomized controlled trial to improve the health, well-being, and food security of preschool and elementary school teachers in Houston, Texas.Preventive medicine reports · 2024Article
- Nutrition Practices of Family Child Care Home Providers and Children's Diet Quality.Journal of nutrition education and behavior · 2023Article
- Relation between Demographics and Physical Activity among Preschoolers Attending Head Start.Journal of child and family studies · 2022Article
- Quality of Nutrition Environments, Menus and Foods Served, and Food Program Achievement in Oklahoma Family Child Care Homes.Nutrients · 2021Article
- Eastern North Carolina Head Start Teachers' personal and professional experiences with healthy eating and physical activity: a qualitative exploration.Public health nutrition · 2021Article
- Which Meso-Level Characteristics of Early Childhood Education and Care Centers Are Associated with Health, Health Behavior, and Well-Being of Young Children? Findings of a Scoping Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Article
- A pilot randomised controlled trial of a web-based implementation intervention to increase child intake of fruit and vegetables within childcare centres.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2020Article
- Fruit, Vegetable, and Fibre Intake among Finnish Preschoolers in Relation to Preschool-Level Facilitators and Barriers to Healthy Nutrition.Nutrients · 2019Article
- Article
- Early educators' practices and opinions in relation to pre-schoolers' dietary intake at pre-school: case Finland.Public health nutrition · 2019Article
- Nutrition-Related Practices of Family Child Care Providers and Differences by Ethnicity.Childhood obesity (Print) · 2019Observational
- Modifying the Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation (EPAO) to better capture feeding practices of family childcare home providers.Public health nutrition · 2019Article
- Nutritional Quality of Meals and Snacks Served and Consumed in Family Child Care.Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
introductionChildcare educators may be role models for healthy eating and physical activity (PA) behaviours among young children. This study aimed to identify which childcare educators' practices are associated with preschoolers' dietary intake and PA levels.
methodsThis cross-sectional analysis included 723 preschoolers from 50 randomly selected childcare centres in two Canadian provinces. All data were collected in the fall of 2013 and 2014 and analysed in the fall of 2015. PA was assessed using Actical accelerometers during childcare hours for 5 consecutive days. Children's dietary intake was measured at lunch on 2 consecutive days using weighed plate waste and digital photography. Childcare educators' nutrition practices (modelling, nutrition education, satiety recognition, verbal encouragement and not using food as rewards) and PA practices (informal and formal PA promotion) were assessed by direct observation over the course of 2 days, using the Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care tool. Associations between educators' practices and preschoolers' PA and dietary intake were examined using multilevel linear regressions.
resultsOverall, modelling of healthy eating was positively associated with children's intake of sugar (β=0.141, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.27), while calorie (β=-0.456, 95% CI -1.46 to -0.02) and fibre intake (β=-0.066, 95% CI -0.12 to -0.01) were negatively associated with providing nutrition education. Not using food as rewards was also negatively associated with fat intake (β=-0.144, 95% CI -0.52 to -0.002). None of the educators' PA practices were associated with children's participation in PA.
conclusionsModelling healthy eating, providing nutrition education and not using food as rewards are associated with children's dietary intake at lunch in childcare centres, highlighting the role that educators play in shaping preschoolers' eating behaviours. Although PA practices were not associated with children's PA levels, there is a need to reduce sedentary time in childcare centres.
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Registered trials
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