Contribution of Beverage Selection to the Dietary Quality of the Packed Lunches Eaten by Preschool-Aged Children.

Background: Sweet drinks early in life could predispose to lifelong consumption, and the beverage industry does not clearly define fruit drinks as part of the sweet drink category.

Objectives: To ascertain the relationship between beverage selection and dietary quality of the lunches packed for preschool-aged children evaluated using the Healthy Eating Index-2010.

Methods: Foods packed by parents (n=607) were observed at 30 early care and education centers on two nonconsecutive days.

Parent packs, child eats: Surprising results of Lunch is in the Bag's efficacy trial.

Early care and education (ECE) centers that require lunch brought from home provide an uncluttered view of parent-child dietary interactions in early childhood. Children's eating from parent-provided bag lunches was observed at 30 ECE centers in Texas, with 15 randomly assigned to the Lunch is in the Bag intervention to improve the lunch meal and 15 to a wait-list control condition. Study participants were parent and child aged 3-5 years (N = 633 dyads).

Adequacy of Parent-Packed Lunches and Preschooler's Consumption Compared to Dietary Reference Intake Recommendations.

Background: U.S. preschool children consume inadequate amounts of key nutrients.

Structuring Process Evaluation to Forecast Use and Sustainability of an Intervention: Theory and Data From the Efficacy Trial for Lunch Is in the Bag.

Background: A cluster-randomized trial at 30 early care and education centers (Intervention = 15, waitlist Control = 15) showed the Lunch Is in the Bag intervention increased parents' packing of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in their preschool children's bag lunches (parent-child dyads = 351 Intervention, 282 Control).

Purpose: To examine the utility of structuring the trial's process evaluation to forecast use, sustainability, and readiness of the intervention for wider dissemination and implementation.

Method: Pretrial, the research team simulated user experience to forecast use of the intervention.

Exploratory Cross-Sectional Study of Factors Associated with the Healthfulness of Parental Responses to Child Food Purchasing Requests.

Objective The main objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between various factors (e.g., sociodemographic, child, and parental factors) and the healthfulness of parental responses to child in-store food purchasing requests.

Efficacy of the Lunch is in the Bag intervention to increase parents' packing of healthy bag lunches for young children: a cluster-randomized trial in early care and education centers.

Background: Lunches that parents pack for their young children to eat at school or the Early Care and Education (ECE) center fall short of recommended standards. Lunch is in the Bag is a multi-level behavioral nutrition intervention to increase parents' packing of fruit, vegetables, and whole grains in their children's lunches. Designed for implementation in ECE centers, the five-week long intervention is followed three months later with a one-week booster.

Dietary Quality of Preschoolers' Sack Lunches as Measured by the Healthy Eating Index.

Background: Eating habits are developed during the preschool years and track into adulthood, but few studies have quantified dietary quality of meals packed by parents for preschool children enrolled in early care and education centers.

Objective: Our aim was to evaluate the dietary quality of preschoolers' sack lunches using the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) 2010 to provide parents of preschool children with guidance to increase the healthfulness of their child's lunch.

Design: This study is a cross-sectional analysis of baseline dietary data from the Lunch Is in the Bag trial.

Method of assessing parent-child grocery store purchasing interactions using a micro-camcorder.

The purpose of this study was to assess the validity of using participant worn micro-camcorders (PWMC) to collect data on parent-child food and beverage purchasing interactions in the grocery store. Parent-child dyads (n = 32) were met at their usual grocery store and shopping time. Parents were mostly Caucasian (n = 27, 84.

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.

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.

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.