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NCT Number: NCT04345874

Virtual Technical Assistance for Child and Adult Care Food Program in Family Child Care Home

This study evaluates the effect of a fully virtual nutrition technical assistance training program for family child care home providers on the food they serve young children in their care and the food environment in their home. Half the providers will be randomly assigned to the nutrition program and the other half will receive a comparison on environmental health.

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Key information

Conditions

Nutrition Poor Behavior Health Behavior Malnutrition Nutrition Disorders Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases

Age range

18 year–70 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 73114, United States

About this study

Early care and education (ECE) providers play a vital role in ensuring that young children have access to nutritious foods. Over 25% of children in ECE (1.2 million children) attend Family Child Care Homes (FCCH). Improvements in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) may introduce new barriers for FCCH, which have limited meal preparation capacity. Limited research has examined foods served by FCCH providers, and no group randomized trials have been conducted using a Community-Based Participatory approach in FCCH and including an evaluation of intervention costs.

Goals: 1. Determine the effectiveness of a virtual, rural outreach community-based Nutrition Technical Assistance Intervention to enhance meeting CACFP best-practices.

Methods: Conduct a cross-sectional assessment of a random sample of FCCH providers' (n=54) menus and meals served. Foods will be evaluated against the CACFP requirements and best-practices. Trained Extension Educators will implement both interventions (n=27 intervention, n=27 comparison) focused in rural counties, reaching underserved rural and low-income populations. The intervention is based on theoretical foundations and formative interviews, and will consist of two virtual 60-90-minute one-on-one visits with the FCCH and one virtual group class lasting approximately 3 hours.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Family Child Care Home Providers who participate in the Child and Adult Care Food Program in Oklahoma.
  • Providers must serve at least 1 2-to-5 year old child and speak English.
  • Providers must plan to continue their business while participating in CACFP for the next 12 months.

Exclusion criteria

  • Family Child Care Home Providers who care for only infants and toddlers and not speak English.
  • Participant withdraws.

Treatment and study plan

Nutrition technical assistance

Behavioral

Participating family child care home providers in rural counties will be randomized to either the Nutrition Intervention (n=27), or an environmental health comparison group (n=27) that will receive an Integrated Pest Management and Green Cleaning intervention with the same format and visit frequency. Briefly, the Nutrition Technical Assistance Intervention and comparison group will consist of three encounters with our intervention team: two 60-90 minutes virtual one-on-one visits scheduled at the convenience of the family child care home provider and a 3-hour virtual group class session with other providers. Total contact time with intervention staff will be 6 hours. All participants will receive a toolkit. Providers will complete either intervention virtually over a period of three months.

Children's environmental health technical assistance

Behavioral

Participating family child care home providers in rural counties will be randomized to either the Nutrition Intervention (n=27), or an environmental health comparison group (n=27) that will receive an Integrated Pest Management and Green Cleaning intervention with the same format and visit frequency. Briefly, the Nutrition Technical Assistance Intervention and comparison group will consist of three encounters with our intervention team: two 60-90 minutes virtual one-on-one visits scheduled at the convenience of the family child care home provider and a 3-hour virtual group class session with other providers. Total contact time with intervention staff will be 6 hours. All participants will receive a toolkit. Providers will complete either intervention virtually over a period of three months.

Primary outcomes

  1. Self-reported nutrition practices

    Time frame: baseline, changes post 3-months, changes post 12-months

    Providers report the frequency and type of fruit and vegetables, milk, and salty snacks served using the NAPSACC Self-Report tool virtually/on-paper, tailored for FCCH

  2. nutrition environment

    Time frame: baseline, changes post 3-months, changes post 12-months

    Self-reporting the EPAO survey virtually/on-paper

  3. compliance of menu and meal with Child and Adult Care Food Program requirements using compliance scoring tool created by collaborative research team

    Time frame: baseline, changes post 3-months, changes post 12-months

    menus and meals served are compared to the requirements and best practices of the CACFP using compliance scoring tool created by the collaborative research team

  4. dietary quality of foods served

    Time frame: baseline, changes post 3-months, changes post 12-months

    analysis of remote food photograph of a child's breakfast, lunch, snack

Secondary outcomes

  1. Provider self-efficacy

    Time frame: baseline, post 3-months, post 12-months

    providers will self report nutrition and environmental health self-efficacy using using survey created by the collaborative research team virtually/on-paper

  2. Environmental health observation

    Time frame: baseline, post 3-months, post 12-months

    observation of household cleaners and chemicals and signs of pests virtually, a tool created by the collaborative research team

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Oklahoma

Other

Collaborators

  • United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Registry information

Official study title

Compliance and Technical Assistance for Child and Adult Care Food Program in Family Child Care Homes- Virtual Implementation

Important dates

Study start
2019
Primary completion
2021
Study completion
2021
First posted
Apr 15, 2020
Registry last updated
Dec 18, 2024

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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