Evaluation of a menu box delivery service for Australian long day care services to improve food provision and child intake: a cluster randomised controlled trial

Abstract Objective: To evaluate the impact of a menu box delivery service tailored to the long day care (LDC) setting on improving menu compliance with recommendations, children’s diet quality and dietary intake while in care. Design: A cluster randomised controlled trial in LDC centres randomly assigned to an intervention (menu box delivery) or comparison (menu planning training) group. The primary outcome was child food provision and dietary intake. Secondary outcomes include menu compliance and process evaluation, including acceptability, fidelity, and menu cost (per child, per day). Setting: South Australian Long Day Care (LDC) centres Participants: Eight LDC centres (N=224 children) provided data. Results: No differences were observed in serves/day between intervention and comparison centres, for provision (intervention, 0.9 IQR 0.7–1.2; comparison, 0.8 IQR 0.5–1.3) or consumption (intervention, 0.5 IQR 0.2–0.8; comparison, 0.5 IQR 0.3–0.9) of vegetables. Child food provision and dietary intake was similar across both groups for all food groups (p<0.05). At follow-up, all intervention centres met menu planning guidelines for vegetables, whereas only one comparison centre met guidelines. Intervention centre directors found the menu box delivery more acceptable than cooks. Cost of the intervention was AUD$2.34 greater, than comparison centres (intervention, AUD$4.62 (95%CI $4.58, $4.67); comparison, AUD$2.28 (95%CI $2.27, $2.30) per child, per day). Conclusions: Menu compliance can be improved via a menu delivery service, delivering equivalent impacts to child food provision and dietary intake compared to an online training program. Further exploration of cooks acceptability and cost are essential before scaling up to implementation.