Abstract
Childhood obesity remains a concern in the United States. Educational programs have been established to address and prevent childhood obesity. Teachers are at the forefront of helping to define and establish nutritional best practices for young children and are key in laying the foundation for building healthy choices, to spread awareness through knowledge and training, to role-model, and to promote healthy options and exercise. However, such curricula and policies have mainly been established in K-12 education. Less attention has been given to Early Childhood Education (ECE) settings. The objective of the study was to further investigate early childhood educators' knowledge and perspectives of the role of nutrition education in early childhood in one private NAEYC accredited ECE center in the Sacramento region. Furthermore, this study addressed the following research questions: (a) What do teachers know about nutritional guidelines in early childhood education? (b) What are teacher's beliefs about their role in nutrition education and children's nutritional habits? and (c) What are teacher's beliefs and practices of nutrition education? Twelve teachers participated in one of two focus group interviews. The focus groups were guided by a semi-structured interview protocol. Participants were asked about their knowledge of ECE nutritional policies and guidelines, their beliefs about their role in nutrition education, and their practices in the classroom to educate children about nutrition. The results indicated teachers were knowledgeable of nutritional guidelines of the school site, but not of the broader governmental guidelines. Teachers’ beliefs about their roles and responsibilities differed based on the age group taught. However, all teachers felt that exposure, modeling nutritional behaviors, and focusing on promoting healthy choices were best practices. The delivery of nutrition education was primarily done in two different ways: through specific nutrition-themed curriculum and through daily conversations around nutrition during mealtimes, play time, and curricular times. Overall teachers felt that they played a significant role in the children's dietary habits and that nutrition education opportunities were needed to support higher-quality nutrition education in early childhood.