More than 16 million children in the United States live in food-insecure households where they are unable to obtain enough food to meet their needs. At the same time, a growing number of children are overweight or obese. Because of these challenges, improving child nutrition has emerged as one of the nation's most urgent public health needs. The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) food program, served about 3.3 million children in 2011, as well as more than 124,000 adults who require daily supervision or assistance. Since many children rely on CACFP for the majority of their daily food, the quality of foods provided has the potential to greatly improve the health of the children's diets. The USDA asked the IOM to review and recommend improvements, as necessary, to the CACFP meal requirements in order to keep them aligned with other federally funded food assistance programs and with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The 2011 IOM report, Child and Adult Care Food Program Aligning Dietary Guidance for All, reviewed the program in detail and provided recommendations for improvement. In February 2012, at the request of the USDA, the IOM conducted an additional workshop to examine research methods and approaches that could be used to design and conduct a nationally representative study assessing children's dietary intake and participation rates in child care facilities, including CACFP-sponsored child care centers and homes. Research Methods to Assess Dietary Intake and Program Participation in Child Day Care: Application to the Child and Adult Care Food Program Workshop Summary is the report that summarizes the workshop.

Contents

• THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
• PLANNING COMMITTEE ON THE REVIEW OF THE CHILD AND ADULT CARE FOOD PROGRAM MEAL REQUIREMENTS: A WORKSHOP
• Reviewers
• 1. Introduction
  • ORGANIZATION OF THIS REPORT
  • THE IMPORTANCE OF DATA IN SETTING POLICY
  • DATA NEEDS FOR THE CHILD AND ADULT CARE FOOD PROGRAM
• 2. Alignment of Young Children’s Dietary Intake with Current Dietary Guidance
  • ADAPTING METHODOLOGY FROM PREVIOUS NATIONAL STUDIES TO ASSESS THE CHILD AND ADULT CARE FOOD PROGRAM
  • HOW TO ASSESS FOOD SERVED IN CHILD CARE SETTINGS
  • DIETARY ASSESSMENT IN YOUNG CHILDREN: TOTAL DAILY INTAKE OF FOOD AND NUTRIENTS
  • ANALYSIS OF DIETARY DATA COLLECTED FROM CHILD CARE SETTINGS
• 3. Barriers and Facilitators to Providing Meals and Snacks that Align with the Current Dietary Guidance
  • EVALUATING BARRIERS AND FACILITATORS TO CHANGE IN CHILD CARE CENTERS
  • EVALUATING BARRIERS AND FACILITATORS TO MAKING HEALTHY FOOD CHOICES IN THE HOME ENVIRONMENT
  • DISCUSSION
• 4. Evaluating Program Access and Participation Trends
  • USE OF CACFP ADMINISTRATIVE DATA
  • LESSONS LEARNED: FACTORS SHAPING PROVIDER PARTICIPATION IN CACFP AND METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS
  • DESIGNING SURVEY QUESTIONS FOR ESTIMATING TWO KEY CACFP RATES: PARTICIPATION AND SATURATION
  • USING DATA COLLECTED BY THE ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES TO INFORM CACFP PARTICIPATION AND SATURATION RATES
  • DISCUSSION
• 5. Moving Forward
  • PUBLIC COMMENTS
  • QUESTION 1
  • QUESTION 2
  • QUESTION 3
  • QUESTION 4
  • QUESTION 5
  • QUESTION 6
  • FINAL REMARKS
• APPENDIXES
  • A Workshop Agenda
  • B Biographical Sketches of Moderators and Speakers
  • C Workshop Attendees
  • D Abbreviations and Acronyms

Rapporteurs: Leslie Pray, Ann Yaktine, and Sheila Moats.

This study was supported by Contract No. AG-3198-C-08-0001 between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. The views presented in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.

Suggested citation:

IOM (Institute of Medicine). 2012. Research methods to assess dietary intake and program participation in child day care: Application to the Child and Adult Care Food Program: Workshop summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.