Husky Reads: A Food and Nutrition Literacy Program for Preschool Children

HR targets preschool children at early childhood education centers. In 2018, 1,977 children at 25 sites completed the 10-week program, and 938 children at 20 sites were exposed to a shorter version during the summer. With over 75% of preschool children in Hartford, Connecticut enrolled in these sites, targeting them allows for significant coverage increased by cycling the intervention across eligible sites.   Settings:  Pre-K & Childcare  Age/Population Group: Preschool   Race: All Ethnicity:  All

The intervention includes the Husky Reads curriculum for preschool children and a service-learning  course.   College students enrolled in the course visit preschool classes weekly to deliver the ten, 30-minute Husky Reads lessons. Lessons include reading age-appropriate book(s), an activity, and food tasting aligned with the learning objectives. The course includes a syllabus with the program schedule, assignments, and training on lesson delivery. Implementation requires a manager and  staff to coordinate outreach to  ECEs , recruit students, teach the course and prepare supplies  and transportation  each week.

Intervention materials are available on the Husky Reads curriculum webpage . Husky Reads Curriculum: Detailed lessons for each of 10 weeks which include lesson outlines and objectives, lists of recommended books, and a description of activities and games that can be adjusted for different age groups Source list for materials and books Service Learning Class: Course syllabus Student reporting and reflection forms Role of the supporting SNAP-Ed program manager

HR significantly increased children's ability to correctly identify two types of fruits and vegetables, and identifying the produce significantly correlated with trying it. In 2018, HR initiated a controlled trial (clinicaltrials.gov, NCT0338257)  that follows a pre-test/post-test control group design with children nested within classrooms at center and school-based early care programs.  Preliminary results are in the following reports. 2018 Formative Evaluation Report 2018 Outcome Evaluation Report 2018 Process Evaluation Report Evidence Base: Practice-tested

Based on the SNAP-Ed Evaluation Framework, the following outcome indicators can be used to evaluate intervention progress and success.   Readiness and Capacity - Short Term (ST) Changes - Medium Term (MT) Effectiveness and Maintenance - Long Term (LT) Population Results (R) Individual ST1       Environmental Settings       Sectors of Influence       ST1: Healthy Eating:  In a pilot study, 159 preschool students in 13 classrooms significantly increased recognition of vegetables from 2.9 to 3.3 out of 8 vegetables but not with fruit.  Teachers completing the survey agreed or strongly agreed that the given lesson increased children's knowledge of healthy food options, increased children's willingness to try new foods, and increased children's recognition of MyPlate.

Fidelity checks for each lesson are available on the Husky Reads Curriculum webpage . Additional tools include: Carraway-Stage et al.'s Fruit and Vegetable Preference Tool (Appetite, 2014;75:11-20), the Building a Healthy Me! Survey developed by Larsen et al. (J. Sch Health. 2107;87:36-46), and the EFNEP Eat Well + Move survey.

Website: The HuskyReads.org web page provides information of this specific program and describes how this program fits into other Center for Population Health SNAP-ED early childcare interventions . Contact Person: Dr. Justin Evanovich Co-Principal Investigator justin.evanovich@uconn.edu     *Updated as of September 11, 2023