Training Needs and Preferred Delivery Modes Among Child Nutrition Professionals: Results From a National Survey.

CONTEXT: Child nutrition (CN) professionals must meet ongoing United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrition standards and professional training requirements, yet national evidence on priority training topics and preferred delivery formats across roles is limited.

OBJECTIVE

To identify high priority training needs and preferred delivery modes among School Nutrition (SN) and Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) professionals nationwide.

DESIGN

Cross sectional, web-based survey.

SETTING

United States; survey distributed through the Institute of Child Nutrition national contact database (emails sent November 7 to December 5, 2023).

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 777 CN professionals including SN management/other staff, SN frontline staff/workers, and CACFP professionals.

INTERVENTION IF APPLICABLE: Not applicable.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Respondents selected high-need training topics to complete within the next 2 years and indicated preferred delivery mode (in-person live, live virtual, or self-paced online) for each selected topic.

RESULTS

Training priorities and delivery preferences differed by role and topic. SN management/other respondents most often preferred in-person live training for operational and complex topics such as food production (17.8%) and program management (17.6%), while live virtual training was most frequently preferred for special diets (19.0%). Self-paced online formats were most frequently preferred for compliance-oriented topics including civil rights (23.1%) and food safety/Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (22.2%). SN frontline staff/workers most often preferred self-paced online training for USDA meal pattern requirements (26.6%) and civil rights (22.9%), and live virtual training for special diets (17.4%). CACFP professionals most often preferred self-paced online training for USDA meal pattern requirements (30.7%) and health and safety (29.1%), with live virtual training commonly preferred for administration/paperwork (24.4%) and special diets (24.4%).

CONCLUSIONS

CN professionals report role and topic-specific training needs and distinct delivery preferences, supporting flexible, differentiated training pathways (eg, in-person for hands on operations; self-paced online for standardized compliance content) to strengthen implementation of USDA standards.