Objective: To describe the perspective and strategies of family child care providers (FCCPs) to reduce children's suboptimal weight trajectories.
Design: In-person, in-depth interviews with FCCPs.
Setting: Family child care homes.
Participants: Seventeen FCCPs caring for children 6 weeks to 9 years old; 94% caring for children paying with a state subsidy.
Phenomenon of interest: Strategies of FCCP to reduce children's suboptimal weight trajectories.
Analysis: Constant comparative method of qualitative data analysis.
Results: Family child care providers described 3 core strategies: (1) improving children's behavior, (2) engaging and educating parents, and (3) leveraging influences external to their relationship with parents to effect positive change and to avoid parental conflict. These strategies were framed within their knowledge of child development, parental communication, and community services.
Conclusions and implications: The findings suggest that FCCPs' role in obesity prevention may be framed within knowledge that may be commonly expected of a child care provider. Partnerships between public health policy makers and FCCP may reduce obesigenic environments by employing training and resources that link obesity prevention and child care provider expertise.
Keywords: health education; nursery schools; obesity; preschool child; qualitative research.
Copyright © 2013 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.