Mealtime Goals: What Are Early Care and Education Teachers Trying to Achieve During Meals?

• In Event: The Impact of Healthful Nutrition Practices in Early Childhood Classrooms on Child Learning and Development

Abstract

Objectives
In response to growing concerns regarding childhood obesity, researchers have begun to explore the role of Early Care and Education (ECE) teachers’ nutrition and healthful feeding practices with the children in their care. One aspect of how mealtimes are structured is based on the goal the adult has for that mealtime. There is considerable research that examines teachers’ feeding strategies that influence children’s food preference, food choice, and food consumption, but less on the feeding goals that teachers seek to achieve through those feeding strategies (Moore et al., 2010). Pulling from the parent feeding literature, we know that caregiver goals impact not only the food served during mealtimes, but also what feeding strategies adults will implement. A parallel understanding of goals for the teacher feeding practices within an ECE context is not evident. Goals for mealtimes can impact how teachers structure mealtimes and can influence their feeding-related practices. The objective of the current study was to assess how teachers view their responsibilities and duties during mealtimes, in addition to what they are wanting to achieve during this time.

Data Source/Methods
Forty ECE teachers from both Head Start and Non-Head Start centers participated in an over-the-phone interview. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data using the six steps outlined by Braun and Clarke (2006): 1) familiarize yourself with the data, 2) code the data, 3) search for themes, 4) review themes, 5) define and name themes, and 6) produce a report. Results from the thematic analysis focused on two main areas for this paper: goals teachers have for mealtimes; and their perceived roles during mealtimes.

Results
Six unique themes emerged from the analyses when focusing on teacher goals for mealtimes, including: 1) Food consumptions- Ensure children are fed; 2) Food consumption- Encourage children to try new foods; 3) Communication- Help children develop language; 4) Communication- Create a social environment; 5) Education- Increase children’s skillset; and 6) Education- Incorporate an educational component. Similarly, four unique themes emerged when examining what teachers perceive their roles to be in order to address their goals for mealtimes, including: 1) Facilitator- Of conversation; 2) Facilitator- Of mealtimes; 3) Teacher- As a model; and 4) Teacher- Of skills.


Significance
Findings from the current study underscore the need for a new conceptual framework that acknowledges the numerous goals teachers may have for mealtimes, and incorporates best practices and roles held by teachers during mealtimes to achieve their desired goals. Due to the limited research base focused on identifying teachers’ goals for mealtimes, the ECE field has been reliant on the parent feeding literature to inform practice within early childhood classrooms. However, as this study demonstrates, the ECE context is vastly different from the parental feeding context, and requires unique considerations. Implications for both future research as well as teacher training/education will be addressed in the full paper.

Authors

• Meghan Fisher, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Brent A. McBride, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign