Poster #105 - Eating Patterns Among Head Start Children: do They Relate to School Readiness Skills?

• In Event: 1-005 - Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Section - Health, Growth, Injury

Integrative Statement

Poor diet contributes to a host of health issues throughout life (Ogata & Hayes, 2014). Eating patterns are established in early childhood and the preschool years and track into adulthood (Nicklaus & Remy, 2013; Coulthard, Harris, & Emmett, 2009). Despite this, a dearth of information exists on children’s eating patterns during preschool, one of the most habit-forming times. Further, little work has examined how these early eating patterns may contribute to children’s school readiness skills, particularly important as programs aim to address the skill gaps for children living in poverty. Thus, given that children develop critical eating patterns between infancy and age 5 and those in poverty are at highest risk for negative patterns, the current study will explore Head Start children’s eating patterns across early childhood and the association between eating patterns and school readiness skills.

Research Aim:
This study aims to 1) model Head Start children’s eating patterns (EP) across early childhood and 2) their relationship with school readiness skills.

Participants:
Participants were the 726 3-year-old children (49.59% female) involved in the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES 2009) enrolled in fall 2009. Participants were ethnically/racially diverse, 42% Hispanic/Latino, 31% African American 19% White/Caucasian, and 8% Multiracial or other. Two thirds of mothers had a high-school degree or lower.

Methods:
Across four time points, Head Start participants’ parents completed an interview providing information regarding children’s EP across six food types, demographics, parenting style, and SES. Children’s school readiness skills (social and emotional competencies, problem behaviors, language and literacy skills, and math skills) were measured by direct assessment and teacher report.

We utilized a longitudinal CFA (Figure 1) to examine children’s EP across time (Little et al., 2007). After controlling for covariates, we tested the association between EP and school readiness skills. Models were run using Stata to account for nesting.

Results:
Preliminary results show that two distinct EP emerged. One pattern (EP1) consisted of consumptions of fruit, vegetables, and milk at least twice a day in the past week, while the other pattern (EP2) was contained items that indicated the child drank no soda or other non-100% juice drinks, ate no fast food, and ate no sweet in the past week. Further, the two EPs uniquely predicted children’s concurrent social and emotional competencies and literacy skills. When covariates were added, EP2 was negatively associated with child’s learning approach and social skills at the entry of Head Start, and the relationship faded out over time. EP2 also related to increases in literacy skills over time. EP1 was not related to school readiness skills. Thus, varying eating patterns exist among Head Start children and this variation appears meaningful in considering their school readiness skills. Final models will be presented at the meeting.

Authors

• Yin Gu, University of Virginia
  Presenting Author

• Jennifer LoCasale-Crouch, University of Virginia
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sibylle Kranz, University of Virginia
  Non-Presenting Author