Hungry is not safe: A mixed methods study to explore food insecurity in early care and education.

ABSTRACT: The early care and education (ECE) environment has the potential to affect both children and their families. Food insecurity in ECE and its management may be an important influence. Objectives of this mixed methods study were to (1) elicit prominent themes relating to teacher experiences with food insecurity (in the classroom) through qualitative interviews; (2) translate interview themes into survey items and analyze survey data to explore generalizability of the qualitative findings; and (3) provide preliminary data on properties of a new tool to study the influence of food insecurity in the ECE setting. An exploratory sequential mixed methods design (QUAL → quant) was used. Twenty-eight interviews about teacher experiences with food insecurity were followed by 781 surveys to assess gene

SUBMITTER: Swindle T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8434997 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature