Promoting Healthy Lifestyle Behaviours in Pre-Schoolers with the SuperFIT Take-Home Kit

Abstract Interventions targeting nutrition and physical activity levels of pre-schoolers through early childhood education and care (ECEC) increasingly aim to involve families and the home setting. How to optimise the reach and adoption of interventions by parents remains an important question. This study aimed to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a take-home kit to promote nutrition and physical activity (PA) of pre-schoolers at home, while exploring the participatory approach of its development, implementation and evaluation. Three successive versions of the take-home kit were developed and distributed among 21 ECEC centres and 199 families in South-Limburg, the Netherlands. Acceptability and feasibility of the kit were monitored and acted upon throughout the research period. The take-home kit included a stuffed toy, PA and nutrition cards with simple activities, a journal in which parents were asked to record their activities, and written instructions. One kit per ECEC centre rotated between families. Thirty-seven parents participated in open-ended questionnaires, and ECEC teachers from six centres and five implementers participated in interviews. Both questionnaires and interviews included questions about the acceptability (i.e. content, design), feasibility and self-reported impact of the take-home kit. Parents appreciated the tangible and practical aspects of the materials. Using children’s play experience and clear instructions from ECEC teachers facilitated implementation at home. Both implementers and ECEC teachers needed room for contextualised solutions to barriers to implementing the take-home kit in practice. Based on the present study, we conclude that take-home kits can be a valuable tool for ECEC to reach and support parents in adopting healthy energy balance-related behaviours at home.