Publication
2019: Protocol for the 'SWAP IT Childcare' trial
Cluster randomised controlled trial of an m-health intervention in centre-based childcare services to reduce the packing of discretionary foods in children’s
What is it about?
The Good for Kids, Good for Life program has been providing support to Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) centres to promote physical activity and healthy eating in children aged 0-5 years since 2006. In 2019, the Good for Kids ECEC team are partnering with centres to conduct three research trials, SWAP It Childcare Lunchbox program, Everybody Energise and Childcare EATS (Electronic Assessment Tool and Support).
The SWAP It Childcare Lunchbox program aims to support centres and families to pack healthier lunchboxes by providing ideas for healthy food choices to “swap in” to the lunchbox. The SWAP It Childcare Lunchbox program is adapted from a similar program previously piloted by the research team with primary school children. Parents within ECEC centres received 10 push notification messages over 10 weeks to help support the packing of healthy lunchboxes, including lists of lunchbox food ideas to “swap from” and “swap to” and links to websites with information to help overcome common barriers to packing healthy foods. The push notifications were delivered via an existing app used by ECEC centres to communicate with parents. The trial was evaluated through a parallel group, cluster randomised trial design with 17 centres within the Hunter New England (HNE) region.
Everybody Energise aims to increase child physical activity in care via the implementation of brief daily energisers or movement breaks for children. ECEC centres allocated to receive the 6-month program will be supported to incorporate at least three educator–led physical activity energisers each day (five minutes per energiser) within their daily service program for children aged 3-6 years. The program will involve: i) obtaining centre manager endorsement; ii) face-to-face educational meeting with centre manager and lead educators; iii) local consensus process with centre manager and educators; iv) provision of educational resources; and v) tailored telephone support. The trial will employ a parallel group, cluster randomised trial design with 14 ECEC centres within the HNE region.
Childcare EATS is a web-based program designed to improve the dietary intake of children in care by supporting ECEC centres to implement healthy eating practices. The web-based program facilitates implementation through a 5 step process: (1) self-assessment; (2) goal setting and action planning; (3) educational resources; (4) share action plan with staff; (5) re-complete the self-assessment. Centres will also receive health promotion officer support to assist with implementation. The trial will be evaluated through a cluster randomised controlled trial design with 22 lunchbox ECEC centres within the HNE region.
Why is it important?
With over 80% of Australian children attending formal care, Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) centres can play a crucial role in promoting the health and wellbeing of young children. Despite the importance of developing healthy physical activity and dietary behaviours during the early years of childhood, a large proportion of Australian children are not meeting dietary and physical activity guidelines. Currently, only 20% of Australian children aged 2-3 years are consuming the recommended vegetable serves per day, whilst consuming 30% of their daily energy intake through energy-dense nutrient poor foods. Additionally, only 61% of Australian children aged 2-5 years meet the daily physical activity guidelines. Programs targeting the ECEC setting to improve child dietary and physical activity behaviours have substantial potential to impact child health on a large scale.
Perspectives
Childcare Electronic Assessment Tool and Support (EATS) is an exciting and practical new way to provide nutrition support to ECEC centres. With over 400 centres in the HNE region, utilising web-based modalities to provide support has the potential to reach a large number of centres whilst reducing the demand on resources, including time, staffing and budget.
