Self-Paced Online Training on Healthy Beverage Policy for Child Care Providers

Objective: Determine if online training for child care providers increases knowledge and awareness of and adherence to California's Healthy Beverages in Child Care Act (AB2084) policy. Design: Cluster, randomized controlled trial with 2 intervention groups and 1 control group. Setting: Licensed child care centers and family child care homes. Participants: Child care providers in 3 California regions. Intervention: Thirty-minute, self-paced online training in English or Spanish, with or without 6-months of ongoing technical assistance. Main outcomes measured: Providers' self-reported knowledge and awareness of and adherence to AB2084 at baseline, after 1 and 6 months. Analysis: Generalized estimating equations and generalized linear models, adjusted for the percentage of children on child care subsidies and region. Results: Outcomes were similar between groups receiving and not receiving technical assistance. Providers receiving training (both intervention groups combined) experienced larger increases in knowledge (P = 0.002 and P = 0.003) and awareness (P = 0.004 and P = 0.001) of AB2084 compared with the control group after 1 and 6 months. All groups reported pre-post increases in adherence to AB2084. Conclusions and Implications: A brief online training supports increased knowledge and awareness of healthy beverage policy among child care providers. The training is available online and is free for California child care providers.