Evidence for Criterion-Related Validity of Pressure-Mediated Reflection Spectroscopy for Approximating Fruit and Vegetable Consumption among Preschool Children.

Background: Skin carotenoids are a valid biomarker for approximating fruit and vegetable consumption (FVC). Veggie Meter® (VM®, Longevity Link Corp.) is a pressure-mediated reflection spectroscopy (RS)-based device that allows for noninvasive and rapid assessment of skin-carotenoid score (SCS) in adults and children.

Correlates of children's dietary intake in childcare settings: A systematic review.

Context: Children consume up to two-thirds of their daily dietary requirements in full-time childcare, making the setting a critical vector for preventing childhood obesity.

Objective: To summarize the ecological correlates of children's dietary intake in childcare settings that were identified and categorized using the Six-Cs developmental ecological model of contributors to overweight and obesity in childhood.

Data Sources: A literature search was conducted in 4 electronic databases.

'Read for Nutrition' programme improves preschool children's liking and consumption of target vegetable.

Objective: To determine whether the 'Read for Nutrition' programme would increase liking and consumption of broccoli (a target vegetable) in preschool children and test acceptability and practicality of the programme.

Design: Pilot pre-post intervention study, where childcare teachers received training and coaching followed by reading the book 'Monsters Don't Eat Broccoli' multiple times with the children during a three-week intervention.

Setting: Five classrooms of Educare, Lincoln, Nebraska in 2018.

BMI Data Collection and Communication Practices in a Multistate Sample of Head Start Programs.

Although there is a federal mandate to collect anthropometric data in Head Start (HS), little is currently known about the processes used to collect the height and weight measurements across programs and how the results are communicated to parents/guardians. The goal of this study was to understand anthropometric data collection and dissemination procedures in a sample of HS programs serving children 3-5 years. A convenience sample of HS Health or Nutrition managers were recruited via personal contacts and HS state directors to complete an electronic survey.

Participation in the CACFP Ensures Availability but not Intake of Nutritious Foods at Lunch in Preschool Children in Child-Care Centers.

Background: The US Department of Agriculture Child and Adult Care Food program (CACFP) recently (October 2017) updated requirements for meal reimbursement and best practice recommendations for serving nutritious meals and beverages, and minimum age-specific serving sizes for five food groups. It is not known whether CACFP-funded child-care centers are meeting the updated meal pattern requirements and best practice recommendations, and whether children are meeting nutrition recommendations based on the current 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA).

Objective: This study assessed whether the recruited CACFP-funded child-care centers in this study were meeting the updated (2017) CACFP requirements regarding foods served for lunch and whether children attending these child-care centers were meeting age- and sex-specific DGA recommendations regarding foods consumed.

The perception of school food-service professionals on the implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010: a mixed-methods study.

Objective: To: (i) understand the nutrition attitudes, self-efficacy, knowledge and practices of school food-service personnel (SFP) in Nebraska and (ii) identify potential barriers that schools face in offering healthy school meals that meet the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrition standards.

Design: Convergent parallel mixed-methods study.

Setting: Kindergarten-12th grade schools in Nebraska, USA.