妇女大会参与与儿童健康结果

An alarming number of children from low-income households are at risk of harmful health outcomes associated with a poor diet. Chronic diseases like obesity and diabetes impact nearly 15 million children and adolescents in the U.S.

妇女特别补充营养计划, 婴儿, and Children (WIC) is a federal-state partnership that provides nutritious supplemental foods to low-income pregnant and breastfeeding women, 婴儿, and children up to age 5; education on healthy eating; and referrals for social services. 美国.S. 美国农业部(USDA)食品与营养服务局(FNS), WIC由谁管理, 发起了一项研究，以了解WIC的参与如何影响儿童的饮食结果. This study—the WIC Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study-2 (WIC ITFPS-2)—follows children originally enrolled in WIC around the time of birth through 6 years and 然后 checks in on them at age 9. 韦斯特大学的克里斯汀·博格博士.D.该研究的首席研究员解释了这项研究及其新发现.

Q: 这项研究的目的是探索什么?

A: 这项研究着眼于照顾者对儿童喂养的决定, 包括母乳喂养, 以及儿童的饮食结果, 包括与儿童早期体重增加有关的因素. 最近, 它研究了WIC参与时间与儿童饮食摄入量之间的关系.

Q: 如何收集数据以获得这些感兴趣的因素?

A: 到目前为止, 到6岁, 我们进行了44次,电话采访超过000人，约4人,400年护理人. 我们通过电话采访了他们19次直到他们的孩子9岁, 大多数访谈都包括24小时的饮食回忆. 访谈的重点是儿童喂养方式, 照顾者的态度和知识, 以及对WIC服务的看法. 参与者 also take their child to a WIC clinic or to a medical professional to complete a postage-paid card with the child’s height and weight. 参与者将卡片寄回趣赢平台.

Q: 趣赢平台使用什么策略来确保我们正在收集全面的数据?

A: 第一个, 西方统计学家采用了一种新颖的抽样方法, which involved accessing sites in a particular window of time to get the optimum sample to follow over time. 为了实施该计划，我们与WIC州机构建立了伙伴关系，并对WIC站点进行了抽样. We, 然后, 与员工进行关键线人访谈，以获得宏观层面的“情况”.

下一个重要的部分, and perhaps the one that really demonstrated 趣赢平台’s creativity in engaging participants in a long-term study, 我们是如何激励参与的. 我们使用标准的货币方法来登记和早期参与, 但是我们知道, 因为这是一个高度流动的人口, we needed to implement another strategy to keep them engaged and willing to take surveys repeatedly over a long period of time. Our strategy was simple: build strong relationships with participants by staying in contact even when they were not being interviewed. 每隔几个月, 我们联系了受访者, 与他们保持联系，了解他们的最新联系方式. 它确实改变了游戏规则，让参与者参与到研究中来, 他们是否还在参加WIC. 在需要的时候, our strong partnerships with WIC sites also served as a key network in keeping in contact with study participants.

当大流行发生时, 我们与受访者建立了信任关系，没有错过任何机会. 因为这项调查是电话调查, we were able to get caregivers on the telephone and continue the conversation since the last interview. We had alternate protocols ready in place to be able to gather child height and weight measurements, but those were not needed since the data collection window was slightly extended and the lockdown was lifted.

这项研究的合作率确实令人印象深刻, 以至于在研究过程中, FNS extended it multiple times so that 趣赢平台 could continue collecting and analyzing the useful data. 最初计划跟踪儿童到2岁, 研究延长到3岁, 然后是4岁和5岁, 然后是6岁, 然后在9岁时进行了随访. Our ability to rapidly adapt to these changing goals is testament not only to our ability to keep the sample engaged and provide FNS with valuable information but also to our flexibility and our collaborative relationships with all stakeholders.

幕后故事, 趣赢平台’s expert dietary team met the challenge of how foods consumed change over time—particularly over the course of the first 9 years of life and during a pandemic. Our dietary team was able to bridge biennial releases of the Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies (FNDDS) to accurately reflect new foods, 部分, 营养价值. This was invaluable for maintaining continuity for reporting throughout the study while accurately reflecting foods consumed.

Q: 有哪些关键发现?

A: 研究结果是相当积极的. 自上世纪90年代中期的研究以来，母乳喂养率有所上升. WIC是一个值得信赖的信息来源. 和, data show that children who stay with the program through age 3 have better diet quality than children who leave after their first year, 这意味着那些参与时间更长的人更健康吗. The findings also indicate that dietary benefits may continue through age 5 for those who stay with the program. These benefits and others speak directly to ways in which WIC supports the nutrition security of participants.

了解更多调查结果:

• Prenatal and Postnatal Experiences Predict Breastfeeding Patterns in the WIC Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study-2.
• The Relationship Between Breastfeeding and Initial Vegetable Introduction with Vegetable Consumption in a National Cohort of Children Ages 1–5 Years from Low-Income Households.
• 妇女特别补充营养计划期限, 婴儿, 3岁儿童饮食质量与WIC参与相关,
• Duration of WIC Participation and Early Feeding Practices Are Associated With Meeting the Added Sugars Recommendation at Age 3 Years.
• Shifts in Sources of Food But Stable Nutritional Outcomes Among Children in the Early Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
• The WIC Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study-2 (WIC ITFPS-2) Through Age 5: What We’ve Learned, 还有什么问题, 以及如何使用这个纵向数据集.
• Duration of WIC Participation and Early Feeding Practices Are Associated with Meeting the Added Sugars Recommendation at Age 3 Years.