Connecting Families to Food Resources amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Early Care and Education Providers in Two U.S. States.

Early care and education (ECE) settings are important avenues for reaching young children and their families with food and nutrition resources, including through the U.S. federally funded Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). Researchers conducted a cross-sectional survey of ECE providers in two U.S. states in November 2020 to identify approaches used to connect families with food and nutrition resources amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Logistic regression models were used to estimate odds of sites reporting no approaches and adjusted Poisson models were used to estimate the incidence rate ratio of the mean number of approaches, comparing sites that participate in CACFP to those that did not. A total of 589 ECE sites provided responses. Of those, 43% (n = 255) participated in CACFP. CACFP participating sites were more likely to report using any approaches to connecting families to food resources and significantly more likely to report offering "grab and go" meals, providing meal delivery, distributing food boxes to families, and recommending community food resources than non-CACFP sites. This study suggests that CACFP sites may have greater capacity to connect families to food resources amid emergencies than non-CACFP participating sites.

Preference for fruits and vegetables is linked to plate waste among preschool children.

BACKGROUND: A large portion of preschool-aged children in the United States (US) do not consume enough fruits and vegetables (FV). It is important for childcare providers to know what food choices children in their care are making at mealtime and how to encourage them to eat more FV. The objective of this pilot study was to examine the relationship between FV preference and plate waste among pre-school aged children in a childcare setting using a rapid assessment tool. METHODS: The rapid assessment tool was first pilot tested with 23 children and revised. A repeated cross-sectional design was carried out for three days during fall 2016 in one childcare center. Over three days, the research team collected 100 FV plate waste observations from 30 children who were surveyed simultaneously about their preference (did not try, tried, liked, loved) towards FV. RESULTS: Food preference for FV by preschool children is significantly (p < 0.05) related to plate waste and age. Children that indicated they loved a fruit or vegetable generated the least plate waste. Children that indicated that they did not try a fruit or vegetable generated the most plate waste. CONCLUSIONS: FV preference and plate waste are significantly and inversely correlated. The rapid assessment tool developed should be validated to be used in implementing strategies that increase child preferences and consumption of FV that support lifelong healthy eating behaviors.

K-12 School Food Service Staff Training Interventions: A Review of the Literature.

BACKGROUND: School food service professionals are vital to implementing national nutrition standards in school meal programs. Appropriate and effective training for these professionals may be one key to producing healthful meals that students are excited to eat and also meet United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient guidelines. A systematic literature review was conducted to understand the scope of interventions conducted with food service staff. METHODS: PubMed, Web of Knowledge, and Science Direct databases were searched for articles detailing school food service training interventions in K-12 school settings within the United States. RESULTS: Of 2341 articles retrieved, 17 articles describing 14 food service training interventions met the inclusion criteria. While food service staff training was an important component of many comprehensive school health and school meal interventions, there were few studies that specifically addressed school food service staff trainings. Although some best practices can be concluded from the current literature, major gaps in knowledge about effective school food service training interventions and validated research tools remain. CONCLUSIONS: As new professional standards are mandated by the USDA, a more thorough evaluation and understanding of best practices is vital to maximize the effectiveness of food service staff training.

Availability, Price, and Quality of Fruits and Vegetables in 12 Rural Montana Counties, 2014.

We assessed the consumer food environment in rural areas by using the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey for Stores (NEMS-S) to measure the availability, price, and quality of fruits and vegetables. We randomly selected 20 grocery stores (17 rural, 3 urban) in 12 Montana counties using the 2013 US Department of Agriculture's rural-urban continuum codes. We found significant differences in NEMS-S scores for quality of fruits and vegetables; of 6 possible points, the mean quality score was 4.5; of rural stores, the least rural stores had the highest mean quality scores (6.0). Intervention strategies should aim to increase fruit and vegetable quality in rural areas.