Healthy Start: Family Childcare Providers and Parents
Completed · Not applicable
Conditions studied: Child Obesity, Nutrition, Healthy
In brief
The preschool years are a critical time for shaping food preferences and eating behaviors, which affect dietary behaviors in adults and life-long risks for obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other chronic conditions. Unfortunately, many US children, especially low-income and ethnic minorities, have dietary patterns associated with obesity and increased morbidity. Thus, to improve child diet quality, it is essential to develop effective targeted interventions in settings where children (especially higher-risk children) spend time. The investigators build upon our efficacious Healthy Start intervention with family childcare home (FCCH) providers (FCCP) to pilot a novel, 8-month multilevel tailored intervention to reach families through FCCH. This would be the first study to incorporate family-based intervention components into FCCH. The 8-month intervention will include an adapted version of the Healthy Start intervention as well as FCCP training to deliver nutrition messages to parents using an existing childcare App, complemented with FCCH environmental cues and tailored print and videos for parents. In sum, feasible and effective interventions to improve young children's diets are urgently needed. The FCCH is a novel and untapped setting to intervene with both FCCP and parents simultaneously to affect children's diets in both childcare and home settings, which has the potential to more fully impact the child's overall diet and weight status.
Key facts
- Study ID
- NCT06978270
- Run by
- Brown University
- People needed
- 11
- Starts
- 2025-09-11
- Expected to finish
- 2026-03-31
- Last updated by the study team
- 2026-07-31
Who can join
Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.
You may qualify if…
- English and/or Spanish-speaking and reading
- State licensed family childcare providers (FCCP)
- FCCP that care for 18-54 month-old children,
- Plan for FCCH to be in operation for the next year
- Willing to be randomized to either study arm,
- Have at least 2 eligible children in their care with at least 1 parent-child dyad consenting to participate
You may not qualify if…
- Participation in the prior Healthy Start Project
- Parents:
- Inclusion Criteria:
- English and/or Spanish-speaking and reading
- Legal guardian of child(ren) who receive care in a participating FCCH
- Child(ren) must be 18-54 months-old
- Care must be for at least 15 hrs./wk
- Plan to continue childcare with their current FCCP for the next 9 months
- Be the caregiver mainly responsible for the child's eating at home
- Willing to be randomized (with the FCCP) to either study arm
- Exclusion Criteria:
- Not meeting above criteria.
- Children:
- Inclusion Criteria:
- Children 18-54 months-old who receive care in a participating FCCH
- Care must be for at least 15 hours per week
- Agree to be measured (All other evaluation is observation that does not require assent).
- Exclusion Criteria:
- Not meeting above criteria.
Where it is running
- Brown University — Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov
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