title: A nutrition and physical activity intervention for family child care homes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Family child care homes (FCCHs) provide child care to 1.9 million children in the U.S., but many do not meet established child care standards for healthy eating and physical activity.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the effects of a community-based train-the-trainer intervention on FCCHs policies and practices related to healthy eating and physical activity.
  
  
  METHODS
  Quasi-experimental design with replication in three independent cohorts of FCCHs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Registered FCCHs from 15 counties across Kansas participated in the Healthy Kansas Kids (HKK) program. Resource and referral agencies (RRAs) in each county recruited and enrolled between five and 15 child care providers in their service delivery area to participate in the program. The number of registered FCCHs participating in HKK in Years 1 (2006-2007); 2 (2007-2008); and 3 (2008-2009) of the program were 85, 64, and 87, respectively. A stratified random sample of registered FCCHs operating in Kansas (n=297) served as a normative comparison group.
  
  
  METHODS
  Child care trainers from each RRA completed a series of train-the-trainer workshops related to promotion of healthy eating and physical activity. FCCHs were subsequently guided through a four-step iterative process consisting of (1) self-evaluation; (2) goal setting; (3) developing an action plan; and (4) evaluating progress toward meeting goals. FCCHs also received U.S. Department of Agriculture resources related to healthy eating and physical activity.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care (NAP SACC) self-assessment instrument (NAP SACC-SA). Analyses of outcome measures were conducted between 2008 and 2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Healthy Kansas Kids FCCHs exhibited significant improvements in healthy eating (Δ=6.9%-7.1%) and physical activity (Δ=15.4%-19.2%) scores (p<0.05). Within each cohort, pre-intervention scores were not significantly different from the state average, whereas post-intervention scores were significantly higher than the state average.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Community-based train-the-trainer interventions to promote healthy eating and physical activity in FCCHs are feasible, sustainable, and effective.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Exercise Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, USA. stewart.trost@oregonstate.edu
authors.forename: Stewart G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Trost
authors.forename: Lana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Messner
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fitzgerald
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Roths
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002654:Child Care; D002656:Child Day Care Centers / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003625:Data Collection; D015444:Exercise; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007615:Kansas; D009043:Motor Activity; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D016134:Organizational Policy