Early childhood is a critical stage for growth and development. In Australia, approximately 1.3 million children attend approved early childhood education (ECE), with 50% enrolled in centre-based services for an average of 30-hours, 3-days/week.(1) It is recommended that 50–60% of a child's dietary intake be met while attending centre-based services(2); therefore, these services have the potential for wide-reaching impact on the development of healthy dietary behaviours. There is no single data set available in Australia regarding food provision type (offered on-site v. brought from home) for Australian centre-based services. This study aimed to identify Victorian services offering on-site food provision and associations with service characteristics (location, management type, level of social disadvantage and the child enrolment capacity). Data were extracted from the Australian Child Care Finder(3) and Australian Children Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA)(4) websites for all Victorian centre-based services. Logistic regression was conducted to assess whether services offering on-site meal provision differed by geographic location (metro v. inner/outer regional), service management type (for-profit v. not-for-profit), Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) score (categorized as low, medium and high), and child enrolment capacity (number of children). Data extraction identified 1802 Victorian centre-based services, of which 80.7% were metropolitan centres (n = 1440) and 66.0% were private for-profit type (n = 1189). Nearly three-quarters of services were in areas of low (n = 500, 28.6%) or medium (n = 756, 43.3%) social disadvantage. The mean child enrolment capacity for Victorian centre-based services was 90 children (n = 90.1 SD = 40.4). Of these services, nearly two-thirds (n = 1068, 59.3%) of centre-based services in Victoria offered on-site food provision, with the majority in metropolitan location (n = 877, 83.1%), private for-profit type (n = 771, 72.2%) and in the areas of low (n = 295, 28.6%) and medium (n = 447, 43.4%) social disadvantage. The mean child enrolment capacity for services offering on-site food provision was 91 children (n = 91.4, SD = 40.4). Centres with metropolitan location (OR = 1.33, p < 0.05) or for-profit service type (OR = 1.92, p < 0.001) were more likely to offer on-site food provision. No associations were found between level of social disadvantage (OR = 0.99, p > 0.05) or child enrolment capacity (OR = 1.00, p > 0.05). Findings suggest that the majority of Victorian ECE services offer on-site food provision, located in metropolitan locations with private, for-profit, management. The study findings provide valuable insights for the design of future ECE dietary interventions.
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