Promoting a healthy diet in preschool children: a qualitative study about early childhood educators’ perspectives

ABSTRACT Most young children attend daycare regularly, making these institutions valuable in health and nutrition education. This study aimed to explore the Portuguese early childhood educators’ perspectives on their role in promoting young children’s healthy diets through semi-structured interviews with ten educators. We used a thematic analysis approach, and identified six themes: 1) Educators are concerned about children’s eating patterns and identify cues that guide them in promoting the child’s healthy diet; 2) Educators recognise their role in promoting nutrition education in their direct work children; 3) Educators have clear ideas about methods to promote healthy eating habits, including class activities and feeding practices; 4) Educators reported several childcare centres and children’s characteristics that hinder or facilitate their role on promoting children’s healthy diet; 5) Educators reported family characteristics that hinder or facilitate their role on promoting children’s healthy diet; 6) Supporting families is a more challenging task. These findings can contribute to inform about specific needs for improving training on feeding practices and childcare centre policies regarding food availability and mealtime routines.