Benjamin-Neelon Sara E, Gonzalez-Nahm Sarah, Grossman Elyse, Davis Melanie L, Neelon Brian, Ayers Looby Anna, Frost Natasha
Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland;
Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
Pediatrics. 2017 Dec;140(6). doi: 10.1542/peds.2017-2076. Epub 2017 Nov 1.
Early care and education (ECE) settings have become primary targets for policy change in recent years. In our 2008 study, we assessed state and regional variation in infant feeding regulations for ECE and compared them to national standards. We conducted the same regulatory review to assess change over time. Because all but 2 states have updated their regulations, we hypothesized that states would have made substantial improvements in the number of regulations supporting infant feeding in ECE.
For this cross-sectional study, we reviewed infant feeding regulations for all US states for child care centers (centers) and family child care homes (homes). We compared regulations with 10 national standards and assessed the number of new regulations consistent with these standards since our previous review.
Comparing results from 2008 and 2016, we observed significant improvements in 7 of the 10 standards for centers and 4 of the 10 standards for homes. Delaware was the only state with regulations meeting 9 of the 10 standards for centers in 2008. In 2016, Delaware and Michigan had regulations meeting 8 of the 10 standards. Previously, Arkansas, the District of Columbia, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio, and South Carolina had regulations consistent with 4 of the 10 standards for homes. In 2016, Delaware, Mississippi, and Vermont had regulations meeting 7 of the 10 standards.
Evidence suggests that enacting new regulations may improve child health outcomes. Given that many states recently enacted regulations governing infant feeding, our findings point to the growing interest in this area.
近年来，早期护理与教育（ECE）机构已成为政策变革的主要目标。在我们2008年的研究中，我们评估了ECE机构婴儿喂养规定的州和地区差异，并将其与国家标准进行了比较。我们进行了同样的法规审查，以评估随时间的变化。由于除2个州外所有州都更新了法规，我们假设各州在支持ECE机构婴儿喂养的法规数量方面会有显著改善。
在这项横断面研究中，我们审查了美国所有州针对儿童保育中心（中心）和家庭儿童保育之家（家庭）的婴儿喂养规定。我们将这些规定与10项国家标准进行了比较，并评估了自我们上次审查以来符合这些标准的新规定数量。
比较2008年和2016年的结果，我们发现中心的10项标准中有7项、家庭的10项标准中有4项有显著改善。特拉华州是2008年唯一法规符合中心10项标准中9项的州。2016年，特拉华州和密歇根州的法规符合10项标准中的8项。此前，阿肯色州、哥伦比亚特区、明尼苏达州、密西西比州、俄亥俄州和南卡罗来纳州的法规符合家庭10项标准中的4项。2016年，特拉华州、密西西比州和佛蒙特州的法规符合10项标准中的7项。
有证据表明，制定新法规可能会改善儿童健康状况。鉴于许多州最近颁布了有关婴儿喂养的法规，我们的研究结果表明该领域的关注度在不断提高。
