Skip to main content

Table 4 Emergent themes

From: Infant feeding nutrition policies in Australian early childhood education and care services: a content and qualitative analysis

Themes

Sub-themes

1. Documentation

 How the policies have been presented: language, layout and sources

(a) Ambiguity of definitions and omissions of key terminology

(b) Use of primary, secondary and tertiary infant feeding information sources

(c) Structural and review ambiguity

2. Values

 The rationale for approaches and practices

(a) Health as an underpinning value

(b) Respect for diversity

3. Curriculum and pedagogy

 Teaching content and practice linked to the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF), Healthy Eating and Physical Activity guidelines (HEPA)

(a) Educator modelling

(b) Child autonomy

(c) Professional development

4. Supportive environments

 How the policy represents a supportive infant feeding environment guided by the Australian Infant Feeding guidelines (AIF) and World Health Organization Infant feeding recommendations (WHO-IYCF)

(a) Risk management (lack of clarity around glove usage, handling EBM, reducing bacterial proliferation in formula & terminology, sterilisation, water intake, choking hazards, other)

(b) Supportive physical & social environments

feeding/satiety cues: routine or flexibility?

5. Working in partnerships with parents

 How partnerships with parents are understood: engaged, facilitated and communicated

(a) Communication of rules and processes

(b) Communication of child-related factors to monitor care and well-being

(c) Promoting agency and autonomy—interplay between educators and caregivers