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Heather Ohly Registered Nutritionist

Heather Ohly Registered Nutritionist. Introduction. Food Standards Agency funded (now DH) Exploratory and developmental trial of a family-centred nutrition intervention delivered in children’s centres Rural/urban settings – Cornwall and Islington Collaboration with UCL. Study design.

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Heather Ohly Registered Nutritionist

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  1. Heather Ohly Registered Nutritionist

  2. Introduction • Food Standards Agency funded (now DH) • Exploratory and developmental trial of a family-centred nutrition intervention delivered in children’s centres • Rural/urban settings – Cornwall and Islington • Collaboration with UCL

  3. Study design

  4. Exploratory phase • Consultations with parents and children’s centre staff • Focus groups (39 parents; 24 staff) • Individual interviews (6 parents) • Questionnaire surveys (261 parents; 31 centre managers)

  5. Summary of findings • Nutrition intervention is needed • Short.....flexible.....community outreach • Emphasis on practical skills – cooking, recipe ideas, food shopping, budgeting, overcoming fussy eating • Staff capacity and training needs

  6. Development phase • Literature review of nutrition interventions targeting under fives (UK & Worldwide) • Review of resources available • Consultations with local steering groups in both locations

  7. Cherry course • Four week course (2 hours per week) • Free crèche provided • Parent and child involvement • Interactive and practical sessions • Recruited and trained of tutors (FL)

  8. Overview of sessions • Week 1: Family friendly foods • Week 2: Introducing new foods • Week 3: Healthy snacks and drinks • Week 4: Healthy eating on a budget • Food preparation and tasting each week • Cherry at home

  9. RCT study design • Randomly selected children’s centres (16) • Randomly allocated to intervention or control group (8 pairs) • Pairs matched by location and deprivation • Baseline and 6 month follow-up evaluations

  10. Evaluation methods • Primary outcome: children’s consumption of fruits and vegetables (24 hour recalls) • Secondary outcome: children’s consumption of sugary drinks and snacks (24 hour recalls) • Other dietary outcomes and parents’ knowledge, attitudes etc (questionnaire)

  11. Sample characteristics • Total 394 families recruited (Cornwall = 190) • Children aged 18 months – five years • Good retention rate to follow-up (77%) • As many low income families as possible • Matched groups

  12. Positive feedback ‘Talking to other parents was great and realising I wasn’t the only one going through it’ ‘She’s eating tangerines and cucumber which she never did before. She even gets cross if I forget to buy them!’ ‘To see the children getting involved was inspiring’

  13. Key results

  14. Process evaluation • Engagement with staff was important • Nutrition training important • Group dynamics could be challenging • Difficulty of applying RCT model • Most and least useful components

  15. Future contact details Dr Gail Rees Lecturer in Human Nutrition Plymouth University gail.rees@plymouth.ac.uk

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