Picture Perfect: How Attaining the Ideal Meal is Not So Easy for Parents of Young Children.

Objective: To explore parental perspectives on the ideals and realities of family mealtimes.

Design: Mini-focus groups (n = 7).

Setting: Rural Colorado, US.

Food Photography as a Tool to Assess Type, Quantity, and Quality of Foods in Parent-Packed Lunches for Preschoolers.

Objective: Explore using food photography to assess packed lunches in a university-based Early Childhood Center and contextualize these photographs through parent interviews.

Methods: An explanatory sequential design was used. Packed lunches were photographed to assess the type and quantity of foods offered and consumed by Child and Adult Food Care Program components (fruit, vegetable, grain, and protein) and quality of foods offered using the Healthy Meal Index.

Farm to Early Care and Education Programming: A Descriptive Study of Challenges and Opportunities to Promote Healthful Foods to Young Children.

Interest in farm to early care and education (ECE) programming, which consists of gardening, nutrition education, and local food procurement, has been growing in the United States, as it may be a promising technique for promoting healthful foods to young children. However, there is limited information about current farm to ECE efforts in specific states, including Colorado, to support funding and resource needs. An online survey was distributed to licensed Colorado ECE providers in two phases to understand current participation in the farm to ECE as well as provider perspectives on benefits and barriers to programming.

Mobile Device Use Among Rural, Low-Income Families and the Feasibility of an App to Encourage Preschoolers' Physical Activity: Qualitative Study.

Background: As mobile devices are becoming ubiquitous, technology-based interventions provide a promising strategy to positively influence health behaviors of families with young children. However, questions remain about the feasibility and acceptability of intervention delivery via mobile apps in low-income, rural settings and among families with preschoolers.

Objective: The aims of this study were to understand the content and context of mobile device use for preschoolers; explore parent beliefs on this topic, including the acceptability of intervention delivery via mobile devices; and test a prototype of an app to encourage preschoolers' physical activity with both parents and children.

Assessing dinner meals offered at home among preschoolers from low-income families with the Remote Food Photography Method.

Background: The high prevalence of obesity among preschoolers may be partially explained by the type and quantity of foods offered by parents and left unconsumed by preschoolers.

Objectives: (a) To compare foods offered and consumed at dinner to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) standards and (b) to examine the types, quantities, and nutrient composition of foods offered to and consumed by preschoolers and their plate waste.

Methods: Participants were recruited from six Head Start/preschool centres.

Beyond Nutrient Intake: Use of Digital Food Photography Methodology to Examine Family Dinnertime.

Objective: To explore the feasibility of using an image-based food photography methodology (Remote Food Photography Method) in a rural, low-resource audience and use the photos to examine the context of family dinner.

Design: Parents used the SmartIntake app on study-issued tablets to take before and after photos of their and their child's dinner for about 7 nights and participated in a mini-focus group to discuss their experience with the Remote Food Photography Method.

Setting: Six Head Start/preschool centers in rural Colorado.

Development of a Quality Score for the Home Food Environment Using the Home-IDEA2 and the Healthy Eating Index-2010.

The home food environment (HFE) is an important factor in the development of food preferences and habits in young children, and the availability of foods within the home reflects dietary intake in both adults and children. Therefore, it is important to consider the holistic quality of the HFE. The purpose of this study was to apply the Healthy Eating Index (HEI; a measure of diet quality in conformance to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans) algorithm to the Home-IDEA2, a valid and reliable food inventory checklist, to develop a Home-IDEA2 HEI Score.

An Ecocultural Perspective on Eating-Related Routines Among Low-Income Families With Preschool-Aged Children.

Eating-related routines, such as regular mealtimes, can protect against obesity. Little is known about eating-related routines among preschoolers or the factors that shape those routines. Ecocultural Theory and qualitative interviews with 30 caregivers of preschoolers in Colorado were used to describe eating-related routines at home and parents' perspectives on the factors that shape routines.

HEROs: Design of a Mixed-Methods Formative Research Phase for an Ecocultural Intervention to Promote Healthy Eating and Activity Behaviors in Rural Families With Preschoolers.

Objective: To describe the mixed-methods formative research phase in the development of the Healthy Environments Study (HEROs), a technology-based, interactive family intervention to promote healthy eating and activity behaviors for young children in the home environment.

Design: A mixed-method iterative approach, using ecocultural theory as a framework, will guide the development of both quantitative and qualitative formative research assessments.

Setting: Rural eastern Colorado.

Parent Perceptions of Mobile Device Use Among Preschool-Aged Children in Rural Head Start Centers.

Objective: To describe child use and parents' beliefs and comfort with young children's use of mobile devices in low-income, rural communities.

Methods: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study. The survey, which consisted of 18 multiple-part questions, was distributed to families at 5 Head Start/preschool centers in Colorado.

Disparities in dietary intake and physical activity patterns across the urbanization divide in the Peruvian Andes.

Background: Diet and activity are thought to worsen with urbanization, thereby increasing risk of obesity and chronic diseases. A better understanding of dietary and activity patterns across the urbanization divide may help identify pathways, and therefore intervention targets, leading to the epidemic of overweight seen in low- and middle-income populations. Therefore, we sought to characterize diet and activity in a population-based study of urban and rural residents in Puno, Peru.

Characteristics of Youth Food Preparation in Low-Income, African American Homes: Associations with Healthy Eating Index Scores.

This study explores food preparation behaviors, including types of food prepared, methods of preparation, and frequency of preparation of low-income urban African American youth ages 9-15 in Baltimore City (n = 289) and analyzes a potential association to diet quality as measured through Healthy Eating Index 2010 (HEI) scores. Overall, the youth prepared their own food 6.7 ± 0.