Our nursery is taking part in the NAP SACC UK research study
Our nursery has been selected to take part in a national research study which is looking at ways to support nurseries in the work they do to support children’s health. This study will test a programme from the United States, called ‘NAP SACC’.
The NAP SACC programme is being used very successfully in nurseries in the United States. It consists of a package of support for nurseries to make them the healthiest places they can be for children. Nurseries already do a lot of this sort of work themselves and the NAP SACC package will give them additional ideas and plans for things they can do to make their nurseries even healthier.
NAP SACC has been adjusted to be suitable for UK nurseries (‘NAP SACC UK’), but this UK version needs to be tested to find out if it really makes a difference to children’s health before it can be offered to nurseries across the UK.
So, to test the programme fairly, half of the nurseries taking part in the trial will receive the NAP SACC UK programme and half will continue with their usual policies and plans. Specially trained research staff will visit all of the nurseries, and will follow COVID-19 safety procedures, to take measurements to see if the programme made a difference.
The researchers will be asking around 700 families from 56 nurseries to agree for their children to take part. These children will have their heights and weights measured and will be given a small activity belt to wear around their waist; they will also have photographs taken of their food at nursery. This will tell the researchers whether there are any differences in the children’s growth, the amount of activity they do and the food they eat at nursery.
The research team have already tested NAP SACC UK on a small group of nurseries, and parents and nurseries told them that they were happy with it. Our nursery is taking part in a larger study that will tell the researchers whether NAP SACC UK makes a positive difference for children’s health.
If your child is aged 2 years or older, is not yet attending school, and is attending the nursery for 12 hours per week across the year or 15 hours per week during term time you will receive an invitation for them to take part. If you would like to speak to someone before you make up your mind, we can signpost you to the research team or you can also contact the research team directly by email or telephone: sphsu-napsacc@glasgow.ac.uk or on 0141 353 7642.
What do I do next?
If you have read this information and are happy for you and your child to take part in the study, please return the completed consent form and the questionnaire in the freepost envelope. Or if you would prefer to complete these online, please visit this link: tinyurl.com/napsaccuk. We would be grateful if you could only use one of these methods and complete these within a week of receiving the forms.
All parents will receive a £10 gift voucher on return of their child’s activity monitor to the
nursery as a thank you for taking part in the measurements.
NAP SACC Study packs will be sent out today for you to sign up.
