PreSchool@HealthyWeight

PreSchool@HealthyWeight; Towards a healthy child care environment for every toddler.

The need for excess weight gain prevention in disadvantaged young children is widely

recognised. Early Childhood Education and Care teachers are potential key actors in

early interventions to prevent overweight and obesity. This study examines the effects

of a preschool-based intervention for teachers in promoting healthy eating and physical

activity in young children. A cluster randomised controlled trial was conducted at 41

preschools in a deprived area of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The intervention

consisted of 2 programmes that were applied in succession: A Healthy Start and

PLAYgrounds for TODdlers. The study period was 9 months. Primary outcomes were

assessed via questionnaires and included teachers’ knowledge, attitude, food/activityrelated

practices, and level of confidence in promoting healthy behaviours. Secondary

outcomes in this study were teachers’ and children’s BMI (z-score), body composition,

dietary intake and physical activity level. Intention-to-treat analyses were performed

using linear mixed models.

Data

- 115 ECEC teachers and 249 children and their parents at preschools in Amsterdam.

- Time points: baseline, 4 months (only applicable for ECEC teachers) and 9 months.

- Fileset contains 2 SPSS-files (*.sav): 1 containing ECEC teacher data and 1 containing child data.

- Because of the sensitive nature of the data, the fileset is confidential and will be shared only under strict conditions. For more information contact m.t.streppel@hva.nl.