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Objectives: Early childhood education and care (ECEC) services are attended by most children before school entry, reaching many living in circumstances of poverty and providing opportunity to support their nutrition. In this study, we examine the extent to which this opportunity is being met, comparing two common types of service provision: centre- versus family- provided food. Methods: Intensive in-situ observations were undertaken across 10 ECEC services in highly disadvantaged Australian communities. All meals provided to children aged 3.5–5 years across an ECEC day (N = 48), of which 11% were experiencing severe food insecurity, were photographed and analysed to assess nutritional adequacy with reference to national dietary standards. Results: Meals provided did not meet national dietary recommendations for quality or quantity. Nutrition was least adequate in services with policies of family-provided food. These services were also those that served families experiencing the highest levels of severe food insecurity (29%). Conclusions: In the absence of policies for the provision of food in ECEC, services are not realising their potential to support child nutrition in the context of poverty presenting increased risk to lifetime trajectories of health and wellbeing. System level policy interventions are required to facilitate equitable access to nutritious food and attendant life chances. Significance: ECEC services present an important opportunity to address social inequities, including inequities associated with experiences of poverty. Yet, to date knowledge of the extent to which ECEC services are meeting the nutritional needs of children remains unclear. This study provides evidence from an intensive data collection in ECEC services located in areas at high risk of poverty. Our findings suggest that the nutritional needs of children are not being met within these services, but particularly where provision of food is the responsibility of families. This article highlights the need for system level policies for food provision to overcome perpetuation of poverty for these children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In developed economies, most children attend Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services before school entry, many from early life and across long days. For this reason, ECEC services present significant potential to provide food environments that positively influence eating behaviours and food preferences with attendant effect on life course trajectories of health and wellbeing. Yet there is evidence that feeding practices that limit optimal ongoing nutrition, such as pressure and restriction, are amplified in ECEC services serving disadvantaged communities. We sought to identify underlying explanatory mechanisms through observation of children's feeding experiences and educator explanations comparing, family‐provided and service‐provided meals. Method: This study used qualitative analyses of educator interviews and observation records from 55 mealtimes in 10 ECEC services: 5 providing food and 5 requiring family food provision. Results: High levels of concern drove educator's controlling feeding practices at mealtimes but presented differently across meal provision modes. In centres that provided food, educators' concern focused on food variety, manifesting in pressure to 'try' foods. In centres requiring family‐provided food, concern focused on nutrition quantity and quality and manifested as control of order of food consumption and pacing of intake to ensure food lasted across the day. Interview data suggested that conflict aversion limited optimal nutrition. In centres providing food, this was seen in menus that prioritized child food preferences. In centres requiring family meal provision, conflict aversion was seen as reticence to discuss lunchbox contents with families. Conclusion: The findings direct attention to public health intervention. Currently, ECEC face significant barriers to realizing their potential to support child nutrition and establish positive life course trajectories of nutrition. To do so requires targeted supports that enable sufficient supply and quality of food in the context of poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigenous Australians are among the most unhealthy populations in the world and yet they reside in a country where the non-Indigenous population enjoys high standards of well-being. Education has been identified as the key mechanism for closing this equity gap. At school commencement many Indigenous children are already at risk of disengagement. This four-year longitudinal study of two Indigenous boys from a socially marginalised community examined key factors affecting transitional trajectories into school. While child characteristics affected level of achievement the critical factors in sustaining positive educational engagement were social support, school practices, inclusion of family and positive expectation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The OECD (2006 Starting Strong II: Early Childhood Education and Care. OECD Publishing: Paris) envisions early childhood education and care settings as meeting places for diverse social groups; places that build social capital. This vision was assessed in a comparison of three preschools types: full-fee paying, subsidised-fee and publicly funded. The social composition within each was examined and the connectedness of the children (n = 472) who attended compared. Publicly funded preschools had more socially diverse populations. The quantity of social connectedness did not differ but children in publicly funded preschools described higher quality social relationships. Not all preschool settings are socially diverse but, where they are, the quality of relationships is highest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]