Comparison of foods and beverages served and consumed in Child and Adult Care Food Program-participating childcare centres to national guidelines

OBJECTIVE: The federal Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) sets minimum nutrition and portion size standards for meals served in participating childcare programs. CACFP has been associated with more nutritious meals served. It is unclear, however, whether CACFP results in children’s dietary intake being aligned with national recommendations. We assess whether children’s dietary intake in CACFP-participating childcare centres meets benchmarks set by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). DESIGN: This is a cross-sectional study. We used direct observation to estimate quantities of foods/beverages served and consumed per child. Mean amounts served per child per day were compared with CACFP portion size requirements for each component (fruits, vegetables, milk and meat/meat alternate). Mean amounts of foods/beverages consumed were compared with DGA recommendations (energy content, fruits, vegetables, whole/refined grains, dairy, protein and added sugars). One sample t-tests evaluated if quantities served and consumed were different from CACFP and DGA standards, respectively. SETTING: Six CACFP-participating childcare centres. PARTICIPANTS: 2–5 year-old children attending childcare. RESULTS: We observed forty-six children across 166 child meals. Most meals served met CACFP nutrition standards. Compared with CACFP portion size standards, children were served more grains at breakfast and lunch; more fruits/vegetables at lunch but less at breakfast and snack and less dairy at all eating occasions. Compared with DGA recommendations, children under-consumed every food/beverage category except grains during at least one eating occasion. CONCLUSIONS: Children were served quantities of foods/beverages mostly consistent with CACFP portion size requirements, but had sub-optimal intake relative to DGA. More research is needed to help children consume healthy diets in childcare.