Effectiveness of a dissemination strategy on the uptake of an online menu planning program: A controlled trial

Online systems offer opportunities to provide effective, ongoing support to childcare services to implement dietary guidelines. The study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a dissemination strategy on childcare service: (i) adoption; and (ii) use of an online menu planning program designed to increase compliance with dietary guidelines.

A nonrandomised controlled trial was conducted with long day care services across Australia. All services received an email invitation to access an online evidence-based menu planning program. Services in the intervention also received training, telephone contact and provision of a portable computer tablet to encourage program adoption and use. Outcomes were assessed at the 6-month follow-up using analytics data recorded by the online program. Outcomes included the proportion of services having accessed the program (adoption) and the proportion of services with a current menu entered in the program (use as intended).

Twenty-seven interventions and 19 control services took part. At the 6-month follow-up, 100% vs 58% of services had adopted the online menu planning program (OR: 14.67, 95% CI: 2.43-infinity; P < 0.01) and 41% vs 5% of services had a current menu entered in the program (OR: 9.99, 95% CI: 1.01-534.57; P < 0.01) in the intervention and control arms respectively.

This study highlights the need for strategies to support adoption and use of an online menu planning program in childcare services if the potential benefits of such a program are to be achieved. Future research should explore the effectiveness of differing strategies to increase adoption and use of online programs at scale. SO WHAT?: Strategies to support childcare service uptake and use of online programs are required in order for the potential public health benefits of such technologies to be realised.