Dataset Information

Barriers and enablers to menu planning guideline implementation in Australian childcare centres and the role of government support services.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To explore government support service access, perceived barriers/enablers to menu planning and menu compliance in long day care (LDC) centres in Victoria, Australia, where the Victorian Government-funded Healthy Eating Advisory Service (HEAS) is available to provide free LDC menu planning support.

Design

This is a cross-sectional study design. Data were collected from online surveys with the option of uploading 2 weeks of menus and recipes. Menu compliance was scored for quantity, quality and variety. Barriers/enablers to menu planning guideline implementation were determined using the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF). Independent t tests, one-way ANOVA and chi-square tests assessed relationships between characteristics, barriers/enablers and menu scores.

Setting

Eighty-nine LDC centres that prepare food onsite.

Participants

LDC staff responsible for menu planning (n 89) and menus from eighteen centres.

Results

Fifty-five per cent of centres had accessed HEAS. Of eighteen provided menus, only one menu was compliant with menu planning guidelines. HEAS access was associated with higher average scores in four of seven TDF domains, namely knowledge/awareness, skills/role, reinforcement/influence and optimism/intent. There were no correlations between menu score and barriers/enablers; however, menu quality scores were higher for those accessing HEAS.

Conclusions

Childcare-specific government support services may be an important public health nutrition strategy and may improve menu planning guideline implementation as well as menu quality; however, this does not necessarily translate into menu compliance. Research should confirm these findings in larger studies to ascertain uptake of these services. Public health efforts should focus on exploring barriers and enablers to uptake of government support services to increase reach and acceptability.

SUBMITTER: Elford A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9991762 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Barriers and enablers to menu planning guideline implementation in Australian childcare centres and the role of government support services.

Elford Audrey A Spence Alison A Wakem Amy A Campbell Karen J KJ Love Penelope P

Public health nutrition 20220601

<h4>Objective</h4>To explore government support service access, perceived barriers/enablers to menu planning and menu compliance in long day care (LDC) centres in Victoria, Australia, where the Victorian Government-funded Healthy Eating Advisory Service (HEAS) is available to provide free LDC menu planning support.<h4>Design</h4>This is a cross-sectional study design. Data were collected from online surveys with the option of uploading 2 weeks of menus and recipes. Menu compliance was scored for ...[more]

PMID: 35641313

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Dataset Information

Barriers and enablers to menu planning guideline implementation in Australian childcare centres and the role of government support services.

Objective

Design

Setting

Participants

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Barriers and enablers to menu planning guideline implementation in Australian childcare centres and the role of government support services.

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