TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluation of a menu box delivery service for Australian long day care services to improve food provision and child intake
T2 - a cluster randomised controlled trial
AU - Kashef, Shabnam
AU - Bell, Lucinda K.
AU - Brown, Victoria
AU - Gardner, Claire
AU - Zarnowiecki, Dorota
AU - Morgillo, Samantha
AU - Arguelles, Jennifer C.
AU - Cox, David N.
AU - Golley, Rebecca K.
PY - 2023/12/13
Y1 - 2023/12/13
N2 - Objective: To evaluate the impact of a menu box delivery service tailored to the long day care (LDC) setting on improving menu compliance with recommendations, children's diet quality and dietary intake while in care. Design: A cluster randomised controlled trial in LDC centres randomly assigned to an intervention (menu box delivery) or comparison (menu planning training) group. The primary outcome was child food provision and dietary intake. Secondary outcomes include menu compliance and process evaluation, including acceptability, fidelity, and menu cost (per child, per day). Setting: South Australian Long Day Care (LDC) centres Participants: Eight LDC centres (N=224 children) provided data. Results: No differences were observed in serves/day between intervention and comparison centres, for provision (intervention, 0.9 IQR 0.7-1.2; comparison, 0.8 IQR 0.5-1.3) or consumption (intervention, 0.5 IQR 0.2-0.8; comparison, 0.5 IQR 0.3-0.9) of vegetables. Child food provision and dietary intake was similar across both groups for all food groups (p<0.05). At follow-up, all intervention centres met menu planning guidelines for vegetables, whereas only one comparison centre met guidelines. Intervention centre directors found the menu box delivery more acceptable than cooks. Cost of the intervention was AUD$2.34 greater, than comparison centres (intervention, AUD$4.62 (95%CI $4.58, $4.67); comparison, AUD$2.28 (95%CI $2.27, $2.30) per child, per day). Conclusions: Menu compliance can be improved via a menu delivery service, delivering equivalent impacts to child food provision and dietary intake compared to an online training program. Further exploration of cooks acceptability and cost are essential before scaling up to implementation.
AB - Objective: To evaluate the impact of a menu box delivery service tailored to the long day care (LDC) setting on improving menu compliance with recommendations, children's diet quality and dietary intake while in care. Design: A cluster randomised controlled trial in LDC centres randomly assigned to an intervention (menu box delivery) or comparison (menu planning training) group. The primary outcome was child food provision and dietary intake. Secondary outcomes include menu compliance and process evaluation, including acceptability, fidelity, and menu cost (per child, per day). Setting: South Australian Long Day Care (LDC) centres Participants: Eight LDC centres (N=224 children) provided data. Results: No differences were observed in serves/day between intervention and comparison centres, for provision (intervention, 0.9 IQR 0.7-1.2; comparison, 0.8 IQR 0.5-1.3) or consumption (intervention, 0.5 IQR 0.2-0.8; comparison, 0.5 IQR 0.3-0.9) of vegetables. Child food provision and dietary intake was similar across both groups for all food groups (p<0.05). At follow-up, all intervention centres met menu planning guidelines for vegetables, whereas only one comparison centre met guidelines. Intervention centre directors found the menu box delivery more acceptable than cooks. Cost of the intervention was AUD$2.34 greater, than comparison centres (intervention, AUD$4.62 (95%CI $4.58, $4.67); comparison, AUD$2.28 (95%CI $2.27, $2.30) per child, per day). Conclusions: Menu compliance can be improved via a menu delivery service, delivering equivalent impacts to child food provision and dietary intake compared to an online training program. Further exploration of cooks acceptability and cost are essential before scaling up to implementation.
KW - Childcare
KW - Children
KW - Diet
KW - Food Environments
KW - Preschool
KW - Public Health
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85174418705&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S1368980023002136
DO - 10.1017/S1368980023002136
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85174418705
SN - 1368-9800
VL - 26
SP - 3122
EP - 3133
JO - Public Health Nutrition
JF - Public Health Nutrition
IS - 12
ER -