Promoting Healthy Development With the Recipe 4 Success Intervention

"The Recipe 4 Success intervention consisted of 10 weekly lessons in which parents and toddlers prepared simple snacks or meals.~All Recipe 4 Success lessons started and ended with some evidence-based information for the parents about children's self-regulation skills or healthy eating habits. Most of each lesson in Recipe 4 Success was devoted to the snack or meal preparation activities. Each week, home visitors coached the parents as they worked with their toddlers to make increasingly challenging snacks and meals. During these activities, home visitors pointed out opportunities for parents to practice sensitive scaffolding strategies. At the same time, these meal and snack preparation activities allowed children to practice multiple age-appropriate self-regulation skills."

Treatment as Usual Early Head Start consisted of an evidence-based curriculum (usually Parents as Teachers) in which home visitors and parents worked with children on activities to support their physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development.