Health status of childcare center providers in a COVID-19 hotspot.

Background: Childcare center providers in Miami-Dade County, Florida a COVID-19 hotspot, are made up almost entirely of ethnic minority women. This is a critical frontline staff that is now encountering the triple threat of respiratory illnesses from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza viruses (or the seasonal flu), and COVID-19.

Objective: To examine sociodemographic characteristics, anthropometrics, and health behaviors that were collected from a sample of CCC teachers in Miami Dade County, a COVID-19 hotspot.

Methods: Cross-sectional data were used from Healthy Caregivers, Healthy Children (HC2), a randomized controlled intervention trial (#NCT02697565) for healthy weight maintenance among children 2-to-5 years old, conducted in 24 subsidized childcare centers in MDC in 2015-2018. Prevalence was determined by frequency or mean/standard deviation of each variable. Chi-squared analyses were performed to test for differences in BMI categories.

Results: In this sample of childcare center providers (n = 255), the majority (61%) had an elevated body mass index. Positive health behaviors such as regular exercise and eating fruits and vegetables were only reported in about a third of the sample.

Conclusion: It is vital that we encourage the uptake of regular vaccination schedules as a means to protect our community, especially the critical frontline workers that have been caring for our young children.