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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2021 Aug;53(8):654-662.
doi: 10.1016/j.jneb.2021.03.003. Epub 2021 May 1.

Parent Website Engagement and Health Equity Implications in a Child Care-Based Wellness Intervention

Marie Ezran  1 , Angela C B Trude  1 , Allison D Hepworth  2 , Maureen M Black  3
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Parent Website Engagement and Health Equity Implications in a Child Care-Based Wellness Intervention

Marie Ezran et al. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2021 Aug.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate demographic differences in parent website engagement in a child care-based wellness intervention.

Design: Parent-reported demographic characteristics and observed website engagement were averaged by child care centers participating in the web-based intervention arm of a cluster randomized controlled trial of wellness interventions.

Setting and participants: Parents of preschoolers in 17 Maryland child care centers.

Main outcome measures: Website engagement: (1) webpage views, (2) average time on webpage, and (3) intervention activity completion.

Intervention: Parents received access to a website containing content on wellness-promoting topics (eg, parenting, nutrition, physical activity) and their child care center's activities.

Analysis: Cross-sectional differences in website engagement by demographic characteristics were assessed using ANOVA.

Results: Centers with a high proportion of parents who identified as other than non-Hispanic White and had less than a bachelor's degree had significantly fewer webpage views, and completed significantly fewer intervention activities compared with centers with parents who were predominantly non-Hispanic White and had more than a bachelor's degree.

Conclusions and implications: Demographic differences in parents' child care center website engagement represent disparities that could contribute to health inequities in parents' access to wellness-promoting material. Future efforts could identify factors that eliminate demographic disparities in parent engagement in web-based interventions.

Keywords: child care center; child wellness intervention; health equity; parent engagement; web-based intervention.

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