Enhancing core components for a digital "healthy eating" resource in early childhood and care settings: staff's perceptions and needs.

Background: In response to the growing need for effective programmes to promote healthy eating habits among children in real-world settings, we conducted a qualitative study. Our aim was to explore the content-related needs of early childhood education and care (ECEC) staff regarding the core components of an upcoming digital "healthy eating" resource. This resource, designed for real-world implementation through the Nutrition Now project, seeks to enhance children's nutrition and health within ECEC settings.

Implementing an early-life nutrition intervention through primary healthcare: staff perspectives.

Background: Nutrition interventions targeting early childhood can be cost-effective and may provide lifelong, intergenerational benefits. From October 2022 to April 2023 the Nutrition Now (NN) e-learning resource was implemented within Early Childhood Education and Care centres and the Maternal and Child Healthcare Centre (MCHC) in a southern Norwegian municipality. As part of the NN project, the present study aims to explore the MCHC staff's experiences with implementing the NN resource, to gain insights into measures important to scale up digital early-life nutrition interventions.

"I'm not sure whether I will implement it": exploring barriers and facilitators to implementing a digital "healthy eating" resource in early education and care settings - teachers' perspectives.

Background: Scaling up effective interventions to promote healthy eating habits in children in real-world settings is a pressing need. The success of implementation hinges crucially on engaging end-users and tailoring interventions to meet their specific needs. Building on our prior evaluation of a digital "healthy eating" resource for early childhood education and care (ECEC) staff; this qualitative study aims to pinpoint the barriers and facilitators that influence the successful implementation of such interventions.

Scaling up evidence-based digital early life nutrition interventions in a county setting: an implementation trial - protocol for Phase 2 of the project.

Background: Few effective health interventions transition from smaller efficacy or effectiveness studies to real-world implementation at scale, representing a gap between evidence and practice. Recognising this, we have developed - a tailored digital resource building on four efficacious dietary interventions, aiming to improve nutrition in the important first 1,000 days of life. targets and guides expectant parents and parents of 0-2 year olds, serves as a reliable source of evidence-based information for midwives and public health nurses at maternal and child healthcare (MCH) centres, and offers pedagogical tools for early childhood education and care (ECEC) staff.

Evaluating the effectiveness and implementation of evidence-based early-life nutrition interventions in a community setting a hybrid type 1 non-randomized trial - the Nutrition Now project protocol.

Unlabelled: Disappointingly few efficacious health interventions are successfully scaled up and implemented in real world settings. This represents an evidence-to-practice gap, with loss of opportunity to improve practice. Aiming to improve nutrition in the first 1000 days of life, we have combined four efficacious dietary interventions into a single adapted digital resource (Nutrition Now) for implementation in a Norwegian community setting.

Staff feeding practices, food neophobia, and educational level in early education and care settings: A cross-sectional study.

Feeding practices in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings are important for the development of healthy eating habits early in life. However, there is limited research on feeding practices among ECEC staff working with infants and toddlers, and how these practices relate to staff education. This study assessed the feeding practices, level of food neophobia, and participation in shared meals among ECEC staff, and examined whether there were differences in feeding practices related to education and shared meals.

Effectiveness of a kindergarten-based intervention to increase vegetable intake and reduce food neophobia amongst 1-year-old children: a cluster randomised controlled trial.

Background: Children's first years of life are crucial to their future health. Studies show that a varied diet with a high intake of vegetables is positive in several domains of health. The present low vegetable intake amongst children is, therefore, a concern.

Wow! They really like celeriac! Kindergarten teachers' experiences of an intervention to increase 1-year-olds' acceptance of vegetables.

Exposure to varied foods in early life is important for short- and long-term health and development. Strategically introducing toddlers to new vegetables is not a common practice in Norwegian kindergartens. Therefore, we developed, conducted, and evaluated a web-based cluster randomised kindergarten intervention, Pre-schoolers' Food Courage 2.

Diet and Neurodevelopmental Score in a Sample of One-Year-Old Children-A Cross-Sectional Study.

Unlabelled: Environmental factors in the first years of life are crucial for a child's neurodevelopment. Research on the association between breastfeeding and neurodevelopment is inconclusive, while research on the possible association between other dietary factors and neurodevelopment is inadequate in children as young as one year of age. The aim of the present study was to investigate associations between both breastfeeding and other dietary factors and the neurodevelopment of one-year-old children in Norway.

A cluster randomized web-based intervention trial to reduce food neophobia and promote healthy diets among one-year-old children in kindergarten: study protocol.

Background: A child's first years of life are crucial for cognitive development and future health. Studies show that a varied diet with a high intake of vegetables is positive for both weight and cognitive development. The present low intake of vegetables in children's diets is therefore a concern.

"A bumpy road": Kindergarten staff's experiences with an intervention to promote healthy diets in toddlers.

Unlabelled: This study explores the experiences of kindergarten staff with a multi-component kindergarten-based intervention, the aims of which were to reduce levels of food neophobia and to promote healthy diets in toddlers (aged 2-3 years). A qualitative design was chosen for the study, and the data are based on three focus group interviews. Altogether, 15 kindergarten staff were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide.

The association between time scarcity, sociodemographic correlates and consumption of ultra-processed foods among parents in Norway: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Use of ultra-processed foods has expanded rapidly over the last decades and high consumption has been positively associated with risk of e.g. overweight, obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Food neophobia and its association with intake of fish and other selected foods in a Norwegian sample of toddlers: A cross-sectional study.

Reluctance to try novel foods (food neophobia) prevents toddlers from accepting healthy foods such as fish and vegetables, which are important for child development and health. Eating habits established between ages 2 and 3 years normally track into adulthood and are therefore highly influential; even so, there are few studies addressing food neophobia in this age group. This cross-sectional study investigated the relationship between the level of food neophobia and the frequency of toddlers' intake of fish, meat, berries, fruit, vegetables, and sweet and salty snacks.

Study protocol for a multi-component kindergarten-based intervention to promote healthy diets in toddlers: a cluster randomized trial.

Background: There is concern about the lack of diversity in children's diets, particularly low intakes of fruit and vegetables and high intakes of unhealthy processed food. This may be a factor in the rising prevalence of obesity. A reason for the lack of diversity in children's diets may be food neophobia.