An exploratory study of the validity of nutrition performance standards for day care centers

The findings of this pilot study to test the validity of food service and nutrition performance standards for day care of young children show that the written menu evaluation alone is not indicative of the actual size or weight of portion of food served. It is apparent that further refinement is needed on the instrument and pre-training of staff prior to its use. The on-site checklist appears to be a valid instrument. The checklist and the menu evaluation could conceivably be used as a screening procedure to identify programs needing nutrition consultation and follow-up by a nutritionist. The fact that the weighed and measured portions of food served at the day care sites in this study provided less than one-third of the recommended dietary allowances for total calories and iron from the morning snack and noon meal, raises serious questions concerning the reference base currently used. Since these were seemingly healthy looking children and were observed to have eaten a sufficient amount of food, it would seem that further exploration of the appropriateness of this reference base is in order.