Healthy Caregivers-Healthy Children (HC2) Phase II

March 5, 2019 updated by: Ruby Natale, University of Miami

Healthy Caregivers-Healthy Children (HC2) Phase II: Integrating Culturally Sensitive Childhood Obesity Prevention Strategies Into Policy

One in four U.S. children under the age of 5 years old are either overweight or obese with ethnic-minority children being disproportionately affected. Low-income preschool children, many from ethnic minority backgrounds, receive childcare in federal/state subsidized centers where daily meals are provided. Nationally, the Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) organization is responsible for rating the quality of childcare centers. However, nutrition and physical activity policy standards have not been incorporated into QRIS childcare center policies. Therefore, the goal of this project is to address the 2014 AFRI program area priority of Childhood Obesity Prevention by building on the phase I "Healthy Caregivers, Healthy Children (HC2)" NRI/AFRI funded project (2010-2013), in partnership with the Miami Dade County Cooperative Extension team, to evaluate the program via randomized-controlled trial outcomes, and deliver an evidence-based effective childcare center-based program/toolkit. This project (phase II) will expand HC2 Phase I findings by transferring the evidence-based HC2 program/toolkit to QRIS childcare centers via a train-the-trainers (TTT) model. The following specific aims are proposed; (1) to evaluate the TTT model of delivery for the evidence-based HC2 toolkit's effectiveness versus an attention control on parent and teacher adoption of healthy lifestyle role modeling behaviors, and policy integration; (2) to evaluate the impact of a TTT delivery model versus an attention control on child body composition and short- and long-term behavioral health outcomes, and (3) to disseminate the HC2 early childhood obesity prevention toolkit TTT model within the QRIS early childhood network at the Miami Dade County-level.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

While all states are responsible for childcare licensing standards, 26 states serving over 1 million preschool-age children currently implement QRIS. In MDC, QRIS-affiliated childcare facilities (collectively called Quality Counts or QC centers from this point forward) provide care to 1/3 of MDC's preschool-age children (80% are ethnic minorities) in 417 centers. At this time there are no nutrition policies included in the QRIS standards for childcare centers. Therefore, in light of the current childhood obesity epidemic, this project will address a major gap in knowledge and the disparities in access to healthy food consumption in the childcare center setting through HC2 implementation.

This study builds on previously funded work and will maximize the initial 3-year (2010-2013) investment the USDA made in phase I of the project to test effective obesity prevention strategies in the early childhood setting utilizing both educators and parents as nutritional gatekeeper, healthy lifestyle role models for 2-to-5 year-old children. The goal of this proposed project (phase II) is to expand the phase I evidence-based HC2 findings by giving ownership of the program/toolkit to the childcare centers via a train-the-trainers model and by implementing nutrition and physical activity standards into the Quality Rating Improvement System.

The proposed integrated project is responsive to the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (formerly CSREES) functions by addressing all three areas of the agricultural knowledge system, including (1) a scientifically-based and rigorous Research design that assesses obesity prevention efforts with young children in a novel setting of childcare facilities; (2) the development of an Educational tool kit to improve training and capacity of teachers and parents/families. Extension and capacity building will be enhanced through HC2 toolkits delivered to the centers and train-the-trainer program manuals for use throughout the QRIS network and in cooperation with Florida FNP. Finally, by incorporating HC2 practices into permanent QRIS policy, centers can sustain the project's benefits for future children, teachers, and families. Additionally, the investigators will collaborate with two community nutritionists to provide services to a large number of childcare centers in the county therefore, extending project materials. Lastly, the toolkit will sustain education and extension functions beyond the life of the project by giving ownership of HC2 to the childcare centers.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

2289

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Florida
      • Miami, Florida, United States, 33136
        • University of Miami

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

2 years to 5 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • QC centers must meet the following criteria to be included: (1) have > 30 children ages 2-5 enrolled; (2) Serve low income families; (3) be a part of the USDA food program and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligible; (3) Reflect the ethnic diversity of the MDC Public School System (63 percent Hispanic, 19 percent African American, 18 percent white); and (4) Center directors agree to participate and sign a letter of commitment (see Documents of Collaboration).

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Centers with a high prevalence of special needs children.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Train-the-Trainers Arm
Intervention Arm receives the Healthy Caregivers- Healthy Children Toolkit (healthy lifestyle role modeling intervention) via a nutritional gate keeper. The toolkit reinforces center health and activity policy standards.
Behavioral: Healthy Caregivers- Healthy Children Toolkit
The treatment arm will receive the train-the-trainer model (utilizing Quality Counts coaches) to deliver the evidence- based HC2 toolkit.
Other: Attention Control Arm
Control Arm that receives an attention control safety curriculum.
Behavioral: Safety Curriculum
Centers randomized to the control arm will receive an attention control consisting of three visits from 'Safety Sam,' a character and safety curriculum that was fully developed and implemented in phase I of HC2. The same delivery model (train-the-trainers utilizing Quality Counts coaches) will be implemented.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in The Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation tool (EPAO) score
Time Frame: 3 years
The EPAO will examine childcare center environmental changes. The EPAO will assess the level of implementation of the snack, screen time, physical activity, and beverage policies through direct observation of diet and physical activity. Child health behaviors and parent and teacher health behaviors will also be measured.
3 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Observed pre-post maintenance on Child's Body Mass Index (BMI)
Time Frame: 2 years
BMI is based on height and weight of the child as per CDC guidelines
2 years
Change of caregiver role modeling behavior
Time Frame: 2 years
The HC2 self assessment tool has a role modeling scale, measuring role modeling behavior
2 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Miami

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Ruby Natale, PhD, PsyD, University of Miami

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

April 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2019

Study Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2019

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 21, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 26, 2016

First Posted (Estimate)

March 3, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 7, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 5, 2019

Last Verified

March 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 20140876
  • 2015-68001-23232 (Other Grant/Funding Number: USDA)

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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