Advancing assessment of responsive feeding environments and practices in child care.

Child care environments offer an ideal setting for feeding interventions. CELEBRATE Feeding is an approach implemented in child care environments in two Maritime Provinces in Canada to support responsive feeding (RF) to foster children's self-efficacy, self-regulation, and healthy relationships with food. This study aimed to describe RF in child care using established and enhanced scoring frameworks. The Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation (EPAO) was modified to reflect RF environments and practices, resulting in our modified EPAO and a CELEBRATE scale. Observations were conducted in 18 child care rooms. Behaviours and environments were scored on both scales, creating 21 RF scores, with a score of '3' indicating the most responsiveness. Descriptive analyses of the scores were conducted. The overall room averages were Mean (M) = 41.00, Standard Deviation (SD) = 7.07 (EPAO), and M = 37.92 SD = 6.50 (CELEBRATE). Most responsive scores among rooms within our EPAO and CELEBRATE scales, respectively, were 'educators not using food to calm or encourage behaviour' (M = 2.94, SD = 0.24; M = 2.98, SD = 0.06) and 'not requiring children to sit at the table until finished' (M = 2.89, SD = 0.47; M = 2.97, SD = 0.12). The least responsive scores within the EPAO were 'educator prompts for children to drink water' (M = 0.78, SD = 0.94) and 'children self-serving' (M = 0.83, SD = 0.38). The least responsive in the CELEBRATE scale were 'enthusiastic role modelling during mealtime' (M = 0.70, SD = 0.68) and 'praise of mealtime behaviour unrelated to food intake' (M = 0.74, SD = 0.55). The CELEBRATE scale captured unique observation information about RF to allow documenting change over time with detailed measurement to inform and support nutrition interventions within child care environments.

The cost and affordability of growing and feeding a baby in Nova Scotia.

OBJECTIVE: This paper examines the affordability of a basic nutritious diet for low-income families in Nova Scotia over three developmental periods (pregnancy, perinatal, early infancy) using economic simulations that include food costing and secondary data. METHODS: The cost of a nutritious food basket was determined from a random sample of grocery stores in Nova Scotia (n = 21), along with the cost of infant formula (n = 29) and prenatal vitamins and vitamin D drops (n = 15), from randomly selected pharmacies. The monthly funds remaining to purchase a basic nutritious diet were calculated for several household scenarios, after deducting essential living expenses from net incomes. Each scenario included either a pregnant woman or a breastfed or formula-fed infant at 3 months, and either Income Assistance, Federal Maternity Benefits based on minimum wage employment, or a $15/h wage. RESULTS: Income Assistance and Federal Maternity Benefits, based on minimum wage, were inadequate to purchase a basic nutritious diet during pregnancy or in early infancy whether breastfeeding or formula feeding. All household scenarios faced significant potential monthly deficits if they were to purchase a basic nutritious diet. CONCLUSION: Minimum wage and income security programs are inadequate for the purchase of a basic nutritious diet throughout the prenatal, perinatal, and early infancy periods in Nova Scotia, emphasizing risk of food insecurity as a critical issue for young families facing income constraints. Adequate maternity protection is required to support access to food and nutrition essential for maternal and infant health.