Factors Influencing Childcare Providers' Food and Mealtime Decisions: An Ecological Approach

To better understand and promote healthy nutritional behaviour development in children, research suggests the need to develop a stronger comprehension of influences from their social environment. Yet research has favoured studying parents, with little attention being paid to other important individuals in children's lives, especially from a qualitative research approach. Thus, the goal of this study was to understand the factors influencing childcare providers' decisions regarding nutrition in childcare settings. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 home-based and centre-based childcare providers in the Ottawa region. Through use of the social ecological model, results revealed a comprehensive understanding of different personal, community, and societal factors that influence providers in their decisions regarding food and mealtimes. To promote healthy nutritional behaviours in children, the variety of factors that influence nutritional decisions by providers need to be addressed, given the amount of time Canadian children spend in early childcare settings.