CO-HEALTHY - COllaboration between parents and childcare to promote a HEALTHY lifestyle in young children.

The need for early interventions to prevent overweight and obesity in deprived
areas is widely recognised. Urban preschools with play-based education provide
an opportunity to reach many young children (2 to 4 years old) and their
parents with disadvantaged backgrounds. Early Childhood Education and Care
(ECEC) teachers at preschools are potential key figures to promote healthy
behaviours and engage parents in healthy lifestyle related topics. A
partnership between ECEC teachers and parents regarding eating, physical
(in)activity and sleeping behaviours may support parents and stimulate their
children*s development. However, it is not an easy task to establish such a
collaboration in practice.

The project primarily aims to examine the effects of a preschool-based
intervention on the ECEC teacher-parent partnership regarding eating, physical
(in)activity and sleeping behaviours in young children.

Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial.

The intervention consists of a training and Toolkit for ECEC teachers. The
Toolkit includes 10 parent-child activities concerning healthy eating, physical
(in)activity and sleeping behaviours in young children. At intervention
preschools, a local team of ECEC teachers will select and carry out 6
parent-child activities during regular contact moments. Parents will receive
associated intervention materials and will be encouraged to perform
parent-child activities at home. ECEC teachers at control preschools will not
receive the training and Toolkit.

The risks associated to the intervention are minimal. ECEC teachers are used to
provide parent-child activities. In this study, 6 parent-child activities about
eating, physical (in)activity and sleeping behaviours of young children will be
carried out and supported by local teams of ECEC teachers during regular
contact moments at preschools. ECEC teachers will be asked to fill in a
questionnaire and participate in a short interview at both baseline and 6
months. Parents will be asked to fill in a questionnaire at baseline and at 6
months. At 6 months, only parents in the intervention group will additionally
be asked to participate in a short interview about the intervention. Children*s
height, weight and waist circumference will be measured at baseline and at 6
months. In addition, at baseline and at 6 months, parents will be given the
option to participate in a 24 hour recall about the dietary intake of their
child and/or a physical activity measurement of their child (accelerometer for
7 consecutive days). Benefits include the free of charge training and Toolkit
for ECEC teachers and healthy life style activities for parents/children.