"Always a Vegetable at Dinner": A Fruit and Vegetable Qualitative Study with Primary Care Providers of Preschoolers Enrolled in an Inner-City, Head Start Childcare Center.

The purpose of this qualitative study is to provide baseline information on fruits and vegetables in an inner-city Head Start childcare center to help facilitate complementary nutrition education efforts between the household and childcare setting. The study design involved interviews and used concept maps to assess the participants' (n = 22) concepts and knowledge of fruits and vegetables. The participants had a basic understanding of fruits and vegetables and desire to partner with the childcare setting in teaching their preschoolers about fruits and vegetables. Grocery shopping was a key venue for where this sample learned about fruits and vegetables and taught their preschoolers about fruits and vegetables; nonetheless, dissatisfaction with local grocery outlets and fruit and vegetable availability was noted by the majority of the sample. Future work should investigate how community fruit and vegetable availability influences primary care providers' concepts and knowledge of fruits and vegetables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]