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Objective: To assess the impact of incorporating nudge strategies in the design of a nutrition education workshop invitation on workshop registration among early childhood education and care centers. Methods: A parallel-group randomized controlled trial was conducted with 88 centers. Centers received nudge strategies embedded within an enhanced invitation (intervention) or a generic invitation (control) to attend a nutrition education workshop. Center workshop registration and invitation recall and acceptability were compared between the 2 arms. Results: No statistically significant differences in workshop registration (25% vs 20%; P = 0.61), invitation recall (69% vs 62%; P = 0.58) or acceptability (mean: 8.38 vs 8.06; P = 0.50) were found between intervention and control centers, respectively. Conclusions and Implications: Low-intensity behavioral strategies embedded in the design of an invitation were insufficient to increase workshop registration significantly. Investigation and application of alternate evidence-based nudge strategies to encourage staff participation in nutrition education in early childhood education and care setting are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To identify perceived barriers and enablers to implementation of dietary guidelines reported by early childhood education center cooks, and barriers and enablers associated with greater implementation based on assessment of center menu compliance. Design Cross-sectional telephone interview. Setting Early childhood education centers, New South Wales, Australia. Participants A total of 202 cooks responsible for menu planning; 70 centers provided a menu for review of compliance with dietary guidelines. Main Outcome Measure Barriers and enablers to dietary guideline implementation were determined using a tool assessing constructs of the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF). Higher scores (≥6) for each construct indicated enablers to guideline implementation; lower scores (<6) suggested barriers. Analysis Multivariable linear regression identified TDF constructs associated with greater guideline implementation. Results Scores were lowest for reinforcement (mean, 5.85) and goals (mean, 5.89) domains, and highest for beliefs about consequences (mean, 6.51) and social/professional role and identity (mean, 6.50). The skills domain was positively associated with greater implementation of guidelines based on menu review ( P  = .01). Conclusions and Implications Cooks perceived social/professional role and identity, and beliefs about consequences to be enablers to dietary guideline implementation; however, only the skills domain was associated with greater implementation. There are opportunities to target the incongruence in perceptions vs reality of the barriers and enablers to implementation. Future research could examine the utility of the TDF to identify barriers and enablers to implementation to inform intervention development and for evaluating interventions to examine intervention mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]