Culture of Wellness in Preschools: Parent Wellness Workshop (COWP PWW)

COWP PWW targets parents and guardians of preschool-aged children in child-care settings. In 2017-2018, COWP PWW partnered with approximately 100 low-income preschools in 13 counties in Colorado. Forty percent (40%) of the sites offered COWP PWW reaching 500 members of the target audience.

Settings: Pre-K & Childcare

Age/Population Group: Parents/Caregivers

Race: All

Ethnicity: All

COWP PWW includes six 1-hour lessons delivered over six weeks that include a pre- and post-assessment of nutrition and physical activity behaviors and 7 obesity risk factors. These intervention components provide parents and caregivers the knowledge and motivation to improve health behaviors for them and their families. Nutrition behaviors assessed include the consumption of sweetened beverages, soda, fruit, and vegetables. Physical activity behaviors assessed include minutes engaged in physical activity/sedentary activity and the presence of a TV in the child's bedroom. COWP PWW facilitators use motivational interviewing counseling techniques to discuss the Family Wellness Summary results and set goals around healthy eating and physical activity for each course participant. The remaining five workshops cover the following topics: 1) Feeding relationships, 2) Eating together at home, 3) Physical activity and screen time, 4) Choosing better beverages, and 5) Fruits and vegetables at meals and snack times. Food resource management is covered during three of the six workshops. Parents then receive a post-Family Wellness Summary with a counseling session at the end of the series to understand where improvements in healthy eating and physical activity were made. Workshop content is appropriate for other age groups and often all members of a household benefit.

For the COWP PWW workshop to be implemented with fidelity, all COWP PWW talking points must be covered and the pre-post survey must be administered and reviewed. Workshop facilitation must adhere to the following principles: using motivational interviewing techniques, facilitating change talk, hands-on learning, use of visual aids for English language learners, providing information in a variety of ways to meet different learning styles and skilled classroom, and/or group facilitation skills. Each workshop script has a list of required and optional activities. Optional activities provide the facilitator with flexibility in the choice of hands-on activities and recipes that may be modified to meet cultural needs. COWP PWW is based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025, behavior change theory, and adult learning theory.

Intervention materials are available at no cost and are available electronically by request on the COWP website. Materials available include:

• Workshop summary
• Six Parent Workshop Education flyers - designed -to be sent home to reinforce messages from each workshop. Each flyer contains a recipe and physical activity ideas.

In 2011, to develop the program, the COWP creators conducted focus groups with preschool directors and teachers to better understand the current wellness initiatives going on at the preschool sites, what were barriers and facilitators to eating healthy and being physically active, and what types of health-promoting activities preschool staff, children and families desired. Additionally, the COWP team conducted focus groups in English and Spanish with Head Start parents from six Denver Metro delegate agencies.

Outcome evaluation data are assessed using pre- and post-survey data (all results are statistically significant from pre- to post-, p<.001):

• Adults increased fruit and vegetable consumption by 45%
• Children increased fruit and vegetable consumption by 55%
• Adults decreased sugar-sweetened beverages by 46%,
• Children decreased sugar-sweetened beverages by 44%
• Children increased number of active days per week by 50%
• When the 7 obesity risk questions for parents and children are summed to create an overall obesity risk score at pre- and post-intervention, there was a statistically significant decrease in the risk score for both parents (adults) and children

Evidence Base: Practice-tested

Based on the SNAP-Ed Evaluation Framework, the following outcome indicators can be used to evaluate intervention progress and success.

• MT1g: statistically significant increase in daily water consumption from pre- to post-assessment (p<.01)
• MT1h: statistically significant decrease in consumption of sugar sweetened beverages from pre- to post-assessment (p<.01)
• MT1l,m: statistically significant increase in fruit and vegetable consumption from pre- to post-assessment (p<.01)
• MT3b: statistically significant increase in number of hours physically active/week from pre- to post-assessment (p<.01)
• MT3g: statistically significant decrease in screen time (TV, video/computer games) from pre- to post-assessment (p<.01)

Intervention materials are available at no cost and are available electronically by request on the COWP website. Materials available include:

• Staff Focus Group Protocol and Questions (Formative)
• Parent Focus Group Protocol and Questions (Formative)

PWW Parent Pre- and Post- Surveys (Outcomes)

Website: The COWP PWW website includes information on COWP, who they serve, PWW lessons, and outcomes of the program.

Contact Person:

Deanna LaFlamme

Director, Rocky Mountain Prevention Research Center, Colorado School of Public Health

Phone: 303-724-4457

Email: deanna.laflamme@cuanschutz.edu  

*Updated as of August 23, 2023