Engaging Parents to Promote Children’s Nutrition and Health: Providers’ Barriers and Strategies in Head Start and Child Care Centers

Purpose:Using the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics benchmarks as a framework, this study examined childcare providers’ (Head Start [HS], Child and Adult Care Food Program [CACFP] funded, and non-CACFP) perspectives regarding communicating with parents about nutrition to promote children’s health.Design:Qualitative.Setting:State-licensed center-based childcare programs.Participants:Full-time childcare providers (n = 18) caring for children 2 to 5 years old from varying childcare contexts (HS, CACFP funded, and non-CACFP), race, education, and years of experience.Methods:In-person interviews using semi-structured interview protocol until saturation were achieved. Thematic analysis was conducted.Results:Two overarching themes were barriers and strategies to communicate with parents about children’s nutrition. Barriers to communication included—(a) parents are too busy to talk with providers, (b) parents offer unhealthy foods, (c) parents prioritize talking about child food issues over nutrition, (d) provid...