Psychosocial outcomes of Lunch is in the Bag, a parent program for packing healthful lunches for preschool children.

OBJECTIVE: This pilot study evaluated effects of Lunch is in the Bag on behavioral constructs and their predictive relationship to lunch-packing behaviors of parents of young children. METHODS: Six child care centers were pair-matched and randomly assigned to intervention (n = 3) and comparison (n = 3) groups. Parent/child dyads participated. Constructs of knowledge, outcome expectations, perceived control, subjective norms, and intentions were measured by a pre/post questionnaire. Hierarchical linear regression was used, and P < .05 was considered significant. RESULTS: There were significant increases in knowledge (P = .01); outcome expectations for whole grains (P < .001); and subjective norms for fruit (P = .002), vegetables (P = .046), and whole grains (P = .02). Perceived control, outcome expectations, and intentions significantly predicted packing vegetables and knowledge predicted whole grains. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Lunch is in the Bag is a feasible intervention to improve the lunch-packing behaviors of parents of preschool-aged children.

How to help parents pack better preschool sack lunches: advice from parents for educators.

OBJECTIVES: This exploratory study obtained parent suggestions about messages and activities to guide parents to pack healthful sack lunches for preschool-aged children. METHODS: A facilitator conducted group interviews using a modified nominal group technique with a convenience sample of parents who pack daily lunches for their children. Interviews took place after hours at child care centers in group settings. Investigators reviewed written statements for common themes then calculated frequencies of references to identified themes. RESULTS: In total, 31 parents participated in 3 group interviews held at 3 centers. Interest in receiving written information and in activities stimulating parent interaction were dominant themes in 29% of the comments. Workshops and activity stations were suggested in 20% of the comments. Finally, recommendations for support from local supermarkets were present in 10% of the comments. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Parents provided helpful suggestions that can guide nutrition educators to implement effective program messages and strategies.

Lunch is in the bag: increasing fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in sack lunches of preschool-aged children.

Fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are important sources of nutrients for healthy growth and development of young children. Recent evidence suggests that sack lunches packed by parents for children to consume at child-care centers do not regularly meet the goal of one serving of fruit, vegetables, and whole grains. Lunch Is In The Bag is a child-care center-based nutrition education program targeted at parents of preschool-aged children to increase the number of servings of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in sack lunches sent from home that was pilot tested in fall 2008. In a quasiexperimental design, six child-care centers were paired by size before being randomly assigned to intervention (n=3) and comparison (n=3) groups. The parents of caregivers with primary responsibility for preparing the sack lunches of the 3- to 5-year-old children attending the centers were enrolled as parent-child dyads. The intervention included parent handouts, classroom activities, education stations, and teacher training. The contents of the lunch sacks for both the intervention group and comparison group were recorded for 3 nonconsecutive days before and immediately after the intervention period to measure the number of servings of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. A total of 132 parent-child dyads completed the study, 81 in the intervention group and 51 in the comparison group. Direct observation of children's lunches from the intervention group showed an increase in predicted mean number of servings of vegetables, from 0.41 to 0.65 (P<0.001) and whole grains, from 0.54 to 1.06 (P<0.001). No significant difference was observed in the mean number of servings of fruit. Lunch Is In The Bag, which is designed to fit in the child-care environment and targets parents of 3- to 5-year-old children, is a feasible intervention for improving the nutritional quality of sack lunches.

Microbial evaluation of foodservice surfaces in Texas child-care centers.

Children under the age of 5 years experience a disproportionately high rate of bacterial enteric infections. Research has shown a relationship between inadequate child-care center sanitation and illnesses in children. This cross-sectional study assessed the sanitation levels of foodservice surfaces in a sample of 36 Texas child-care centers via recovery and identification of selected enteric gram-negative bacteria. The centers in this study had the capacity to care for 50 to 332 children and represented diverse socioeconomic and racial profiles. Forty-one percent (68 of 167) of total swab samples collected tested positive for bacteria. Twenty-seven different types of bacteria were identified from positive swab samples. Most of the bacteria found are considered opportunistic pathogens, which can pose serious health risks to those with compromised immune systems, such as young children. Two types of bacteria recovered, Salmonella paratyphi A and Klebsiella pneumonia, are considered nonopportunistic and can infect healthy individuals. The most common areas of bacterial contamination were the sink drain area of the dishwashing sink, the hand-washing sink faucet handles, the handle of the garbage can lid, and cutting boards. It is vital for child-care staff to wash their hands often and disinfect all surfaces, because even surfaces that appear clean can harbor microorganisms.