The co-design of support strategies for sustainable, healthy, and affordable food provision in Early Childhood Education settings.

Objective: To co-design support strategies to enable sustainable, healthy, affordable food provision, including waste mitigation practices, in Australian Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) settings.

Design: Based upon the co-design IDEAS framework (Ideate, DEsign, Assess & Share), this co-design process involved iterative interviews and focus groups with ECEC centre staff, and workshops with Nutrition Australia. Interview and workshop themes were coded to the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) to develop initial prototypes for support strategies that were further developed and refined in focus groups.

The effects of age on associations between pre-school children's eating behaviour traits and diet quality.

Child eating behaviour traits are associated with several aspects of dietary intake of pre-school children, however the associations between child eating behaviour traits and overall dietary quality in pre-school children has not been examined. Additionally, it is unknown how these relationships vary by age. This study examines the associations between child eating behaviour traits and pre-school children's dietary quality and whether children's age moderates these associations.

Bioavailability of Australian pre-schooler iron intakes at specific eating occasions is low.

Purpose: Poor bioavailability may contribute to iron deficiency among children in high-resource countries, but iron bioavailability of Australian pre-schooler diets is unknown. This study aimed to estimate the bioavailability of Australian pre-schooler iron intakes across the day and by eating occasions to identify optimal timing for intervention, by using five previously developed algorithms, and to estimate the proportion of children with intakes of absorbable iron below the requirements.

Methods: Dietary data of children aged 2 to < 6 y (n = 812) from the 2011-12 National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey were collected via two 24-h recalls.

Nutrition environments in early childhood education: do they align with best practice?

Objective: To assess the comprehensiveness (scope of nutrition guidance) and strength (clarity of written language) of centre-based nutrition policies (CBNP) within early childhood education (ECE) centres. To also consider the applicability of an existing CBNP assessment tool and policy alignment with best practice food provision and feeding practices.

Design: Cross-sectional online study to assess written ECE CNBP using the Wellness Child Care Assessment Tool.

Mothers' experiences of reducing family mealtime screen use in Australian households with young children.

Objective: Screen use at mealtimes is associated with poor dietary and psychosocial outcomes in children and is disproportionately prevalent among families of low socio-economic position (SEP). This study aimed to explore experiences of reducing mealtime screen use in mothers of low SEP with young children.

Design: Motivational interviews, conducted via Zoom or telephone, addressed barriers and facilitators to reducing mealtime screen use.

Environmental sustainability and food provision in the early childhood and education setting.

Objective: To describe environmentally sustainable (ES) and healthy food provision practices in childcare services in Victoria, Australia.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Childcare services providing food onsite.

Iron Nutrition of Pre-Schoolers in High-Income Countries: A Review.

Pre-schoolers are vulnerable to iron deficiency, which, in high-resource countries, is mainly caused by suboptimal or poorly absorbable iron intakes. This review examines the prevalence of inadequate iron intakes and status, and the non-dietary factors associated with these, among children aged between 2 and 5 years within high-income countries. It then considers the quality of the pre-schooler diet in terms of dietary factors, dietary patterns, and iron intakes.

Mothers' descriptions of their feeding strategies in response to fussy eating with children of different levels of trait fussiness.

Parent feeding practices influence a child's dietary intake. Many studies examining how parents react to children's fussy eating behaviours have been limited to questionnaire measures, which assess a limited number of feeding practices. There is a lack of research exploring the range of strategies parents use when their child is being fussy and/or refusing to eat.

"That's the routine": A qualitative exploration of mealtime screen use in lower educated Australian families with young children.

Background: Family meals are an opportune context for initiating healthy eating habits in young children. However, using screens at family mealtimes may negate some of the associated nutritional and social benefits. In High Income countries, frequent mealtime screen use is common, particularly in families of low socioeconomic position (SEP).

Frequency and distribution of dietary energy, vegetable, fruit and discretionary food intakes in 18-month-old Australian children.

Dietary behaviours in early childhood are understudied despite links with later health. Assessing the distribution of key food groups across the day could identify opportunities for improvements. This study aimed to describe the 24-hourly distribution of dietary intakes and frequency of eating occasions for weekdays and weekend days among children aged 18 months and assess associations of eating frequency with vegetable, fruit and discretionary intakes and zBMI.

Exploring the Use of a Web-Based Menu Planning Tool in Childcare Services: Qualitative Cross-sectional Survey Study.

Background: Early childhood is a critical period for supporting the development of healthy eating habits, which may affect lifelong health. Childcare services are important settings for promoting early childhood nutrition; however, food provision in childcare frequently does not align with dietary guidelines. Web-based menu planning tools are well suited to support healthy food provision in childcare, although little is known about their use.

Mealtime TV Use Is Associated with Higher Discretionary Food Intakes in Young Australian Children: A Two-Year Prospective Study.

Background: Mealtime television use has been cross-sectionally associated with suboptimal diets in children. This study aimed to assess the two-year prospective association between baseline mealtime television use and subsequent diets in young children, and identify socioeconomic differences.

Methods: Parents reported their child's television use at meals, and fruit, vegetable, and discretionary food intakes.

Characterizing children's eating patterns: does the choice of eating occasion definition matter?

Background: Recommendations to define eating occasions (EO) currently exist for research in adults, but not for children or adolescents. We examined how varying EO definitions affect the characterization of eating patterns in children and adolescents.

Methods: Cross-sectional dietary data collected using a 24-h recall data during the 2011-12 Australian National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey (1364 boys and 1337 girls aged 2-18 years) were analyzed.

Groups of mothers based on feeding practices and their associations with dietary quality of pre-school children: A latent profile analysis.

Parents' feeding practices are associated with children's food intake. However, little is known about the patterns of feeding practices used by groups of mothers or how these groupings of practices influence children's dietary intake. Therefore, the aims of this study are to classify and describe groups of mothers according to their patterns of feeding practices and to examine the associations between the groups of maternal feeding practices and pre-school children's dietary quality.

Associations between feeding practices and child dietary quality, and the moderating effect of child eating behaviours on these associations.

Background: Parents' feeding practices are associated with children's food intake. Little is known about how children's eating behaviours (fussiness, enjoyment of food, food responsiveness, satiety responsiveness) moderate these associations. This study examines the relationships between feeding practices and pre-school children's dietary quality and whether children's eating behaviours moderate these relationships.

Parenting style as a predictor of dietary score change in children from 4 to 14 years of age. Findings from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children.

Objective: To examine associations between parenting style and changes in dietary quality score across childhood.

Design: This longitudinal analysis included the child's frequency of consumption for twelve food and drink items reported by mothers of children (aged 4-8 years) and children (aged 10-14 years) during face-to-face interviews biennially. These items were combined into dietary scores based on the Australian Dietary Guidelines.

Dietary patterns of Australian pre-schoolers and associations with haem and non-haem iron intakes.

Purpose: To describe Australian pre-schooler dietary patterns and examine their associations with dietary iron intakes.

Methods: Dietary data of children (n = 812, 2 to < 6 years old) from the 2011-12 National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey were collected via two non-consecutive 24-h recalls and analysed using AUSNUT 2011-13. Usual food and nutrient intakes were estimated via Multiple Source Method.

Home environment predictors of vegetable and fruit intakes among Australian children aged 18 months.

Suboptimal vegetable and fruit consumption by young children is common. Identifying predictors of vegetable and fruit intakes is important for informing strategies to promote sufficient intakes of these foods from early life. The aim of the present study was to examine predictors of toddlers' vegetable and fruit intakes at age 18 months.

Adequacy of iron intakes and socio-demographic factors associated with iron intakes of Australian pre-schoolers.

Purpose: To estimate the prevalence of inadequate iron intakes and identify socio-demographic factors associated with iron intakes of Australian children aged 2-5 years.

Methods: Data from the 2011-2012 National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey component of the Australian Health Survey were analysed (n = 783, 2-5 years old). Dietary intake was assessed via two non-consecutive 24-h recalls.

Early Childhood Vegetable, Fruit, and Discretionary Food Intakes Do Not Meet Dietary Guidelines, but Do Show Socioeconomic Differences and Tracking over Time.

Background: Dietary intakes of young children are likely to be important determinants of their short- and long-term health, yet there are few longitudinal dietary studies of this age group, and no previous assessments of diets before age 2 years compared with national dietary guidelines.

Objective: This study aimed to compare vegetable, fruit, and discretionary food intakes of children aged 9 months to 5 years to dietary guidelines, and to assess differences in intakes by socioeconomic status and tracking of intakes across early childhood.

Design: This study analyzed longitudinal data from the Melbourne Infant Feeding Activity and Nutrition Trial Program early childhood lifestyle intervention trial, and is the first study to compare diets of children younger than age 2 years to national dietary guidelines.

Family meals with young children: an online study of family mealtime characteristics, among Australian families with children aged six months to six years.

Background: Evidence suggests that family meals influence food intakes and behaviours, which in turn impact children's eating habits, diets and health. Mealtimes therefore offer potential as settings for health promotion. Given diet, health behaviours and health are often socioeconomically patterned, it is important to consider whether family meals differ by socioeconomic position (SEP).

Practicalities and Research Considerations for Conducting Childhood Obesity Prevention Interventions with Families.

Internationally, childhood obesity is a major public health concern. Given the established difficulties in treating obesity, designing and evaluating effective obesity prevention interventions are research priorities. As parents play a crucial role in establishing positive health behaviours in children, they are a key target for child obesity prevention programs.