Abstract
Childcare in the United States (US) has become a necessary part of life for most working parents with the increased use of center-based childcare over the past three decades. Approximately 13 million preschoolers attend some form of childcare. Literature indicates the main predictors of quality childcare programs are adequate experience and specialized training of childcare staff. A growing concern among researchers, however, is the limited training among childcare professionals in the area of food safety. Children have minimal control of food safety risks because other people prepare their meals. A questionnaire was developed and mailed to childcare center directors in Texas and Iowa to identify the demographic, food safety and other practices that influence the training and decisions made by childcare center directors. Results indicate the need of continual management and food safety training for both directors and staff in order to provide a safe environment for young children.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Academy of Pediatrics. (1992). Caring for our children-national health and safety performance standards: Guidelines for out-of-home child care programs. Elk Grove Village, IL: American Public Health Association and American Academy of Pediatrics
Angelillo I. F., Foresta M. R., Scozzafava C., Pavia M. (2001). Consumers and foodborne diseases: Knowledge, attitudes and reported behavior in one region of Italy. International Journal of Food Microbiology, 64, 161–166
Angelillo I. F., Viggiani N. M. A., Rizzo L., Bianco A. (2000). Food handlers and foodborne diseases: Knowledge, attitudes, and reported behavior in Italy. Journal of Food Protection, 63, 381–385
Bassoff B. Z., Willis W. O. (1991) Requiring formal training in preventative health practices for child day care providers. Public Health Reports 106(5):523–529
Bloom, P. J., & Sheerer, M. (1992). The effect of leadership training on child care program quality. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 7, 579–594
Briley M. E., Roberts-Gray C., Simpson D. (1994) Identification of factors that influence the menu at the child care center: A grounded theory approach. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 94:276–281
Buzby J. C (2001) Children and microbial foodborne illness. Food Review 24:32–36
Children’s Defense Fund. (2004). The state of America’s children. Retrieved 22 August 2004, from the World Wide Web: http://www.childrensdefense.org/pressreleases/040713.aspx
Clayton D. A., Griffith C. J., Price P., Peters A. C. (2002) Food handlers’ beliefs and self-reported practices. International Journal of Environmental Health Research 12:25–39
DeBord K. (1993) A little respect and eight more hours in the day: Family child care providers have special needs. Young Children 48:21–26
DeMicco F. J., Palakurthi R. R., Sammons G., Williams J. A. (1994) Nutrition education and food service management training needs of school food service professionals. School Food Service Research Review 18:80–87
Giampaoli, J., Sneed, J., Cluskey, M., & Koenig, H. F. (2002). Developing a practical audit for assessing employee food handling practices. Journal of Child Nutrition & Management. Retrieved April 20, 2005, from the World Wide Web: http://www.docs.schoolnutrition.org/newsroom/jcnm/02spring/giampaoli1/
Gratz R. R., Claffey A. (1996) Adult health in child care: Health status behaviors and concerns of teachers, directors, and family child care providers. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 11:243–267
Grubb P. D, (1994) An evaluation of self-certified compliance with minimum standards in regulated family day care homes. Children and Youth Care Forum 23:135–151
Hine S., Thilmany D., Kendall P., Smith K. (2003) Employees and food safety: Is training important to food service managers? Journal of Food Extension 41:1–11
Jastrow, S., Briley, M. E., & Roberts-Gray, C. (1998). Food safety: Is your kitchen clean. Texas Child Care, 8–13
Jolson M. A. (1977) How to double or triple mail-survey response rates. Journal of Marketing 41(4):78–81
Mangione,T. W. (1995). Mail surveys: Improving the quality. Thousand Oaks, London, New Delhi: Sage Publications, Inc
Mullis A. K., Cornille T. A., Mullis R. L., Taliano K. (2003) Childcare center directors’ perceptions of their work environments: A comparison of for-profit and non-profit programs. Early Child Development and Care 173(5):545–556
Murphy A. S. (1995). Food safety training needs of childcare providers. Early Education and Development 6:279–289
NAEYC (1998). Accreditation criteria and procedures of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. The United States of America: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
National Child Care Information Center. (2004). Number of childcare programs. Retrieved 14 November 2004, from the World Wide Web: http://www.nccic.org
Pickering L. K., Woodward W. E. (1982) Diarrhea in day care centers. Pediatric Infectious Disease 1:47–52
Pollard C. M., Lewis J. M., Miller M. R. (1999) Food service in long day care centres – An opportunity for public health intervention. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 23:606–610
Powell D. R., Stremmel A. J. (1989) The relation of early childhood training and experience to the professional development of child care workers. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 4:339–355
Rohs F. R., Langone C. A., Coleman R. K. (2001) Response shift bias: A problem in evaluating nutrition training using self-report measures. Journal of Nutrition Education 33:165–170
Rusby J. C. (2002). Training needs and challenges of family child care providers. Children and Youth Care Forum 31(5):281–293
Sachs S., Hulebak K. (2002) A dialogue on pathogen reduction. Food Technology 56(55–61):107
Scarr S. (1998) American child care today. The American Psychologist 53:95–108
Sifton, D. (2001). The PDR family guide to nutrition and health: How to keep your food safe. Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics Company
SPSS. (2003). Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) (Version 12.0)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Enke, A.A., Briley, M.E., Curtis, S.R. et al. Quality Management Procedures Influence the Food Safety Practices at Childcare Centers. Early Childhood Educ J 35, 75–81 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-006-0141-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-006-0141-8