Parenting has always been tough, but the COVID-19 pandemic has made ensuring the health of young children even more challenging. How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected obesity-related dietary behaviors and weight outcomes among Connecticut young children? Further, what can we do to support optimal infant feeding and health practices among Connecticut parents? To help answer these questions, researchers from the University of Connecticut have been awarded $1 million in funding from the Connecticut Department of Public Health for a new project to study how infant feeding practices such as breastfeeding changed throughout the pandemic and how these changes affected children’s health and weight outcomes.
Parenting the Future (PTF) is a parent-engagement program that supports caregivers in developing skills and behaviors to foster children’s attachment and healthy development and strengthens families’ role in children’s care, protection and education. The program hires staff locally and trains them as Infant and Toddler Parenting Coaches (“parenting coaches”). Caregivers and their children come to centers for individual and group sessions led by the coaches, and home visits will be provided for families living in remote villages.