INFANT program: reducing screen time in early childhood
Background and rationale
The first 1,000 days of life are a critical time for establishing healthy movement and nutrition behaviours that can have health and economic benefits into adulthood.1 INFANT was developed at Deakin University’s Institute of Physical Activity and Nutrition in 2008 and is continuing to shape healthier lives for children in Australia and their families. INFANT’s purpose is to provide parents with knowledge, skill building and social support to promote active play, reduced screen time and healthy eating in their children from 3–18 months of age. It is now being scaled up to support families from pregnancy and across the start of their baby’s life (pregnancy – 18 months).
Parents and carers have free access to INFANT through existing local early years services, with four group sessions led by a trained professional and an app that reinforces and expands on content from the group sessions. Professionals can undertake INFANT training, providing professional development in early childhood behaviours and enabling them to facilitate INFANT sessions.
Strong policy endorsement has led to widespread implementation of INFANT. The majority of local government areas in Victoria have adopted INFANT and it is being piloted in other jurisdictions. It is widely recommended by:
- State – INFANT is a priority for the Victorian Government under its Healthy kids healthy futures plan. In 2024, the Victorian Minister for Health launched new INFANT resources translated into six languages.
- National – the Australian government’s Community for children’s funding for disadvantaged communities has recommended INFANT as an evidence-based program since 2020.
- International – US National Cancer Institute has recommended INFANT as an evidence-based program since 2024; the only program in its database of 207 recommended healthy lifestyle programs that starts from birth. US Centers for Disease Control endorsed INFANT as “the strongest model for translating findings from a randomized control trial to widespread community implementation” in their 2023 review of complementary feeding interventions.2
Outcomes and impact
To date, INFANT has:
- reached more than 16,000 parents and carers
- been implemented by the majority of Victorian local governments
- provided training to hundreds of early years professionals to deliver INFANT and integrate INFANT messaging in their standard practice
- been shown to have positive health effects for children at age 2, 3.5 and 5 years with reduced screen time; increased fruit, vegetable and water intake; and 1.7 serve reduction in discretionary foods per week. A trial of 500 families showed that children whose parents participated in INFANT watched 16 minutes less television per day at 20 months of age. At 3.5 and 5 years of age (2 and 3.5 years after conclusion of the intervention), those who had participated in INFANT continued to have approximately 10 minutes less screen time per day than children whose parents had not participated in INFANT.3
- significantly improved practice among the Maternal and Child Health Nurses trained to administer the program. Surveys showed that nurses who were INFANT trained more frequently discussed active play, reduced screen time, and family meals with parents during routine consultations.
Investment and funding
The INFANT trial was funded by NHMRC Project Grants (GNT425801, GNT1008879). INFANT has been implemented in Victoria with the support of a NHMRC Partnership Grant 2019–2025 (GNT1161223) in collaboration with nine practice and policy partners, and implementation funding from the Victorian Government Department of Health and VicHealth.
Enablers and lessons learned
Key lessons include:
- Early childhood initiatives that upskill parents have the potential for sustained benefits longer term.
- Importance of collaboration with key organisations throughout all phases of research translation and scale up.
- Necessity of long-term support and funding for statewide (and beyond) implementation (training, maintenance of resources, provision of implementation support).
- The benefit of cross organisational support for workforce to train and facilitate INFANT in the community.
- Health in the first 2,000 days should be prioritised by health and early years organisations.
Further information
Website: https://www.infantprogram.org/
Email: infant-study@deakin.edu.au
References
- World Health Organization. Report of the commission on ending childhood obesity. 2016. www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241510066.
- National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Complementary feeding interventions for infants and young children under age 2: Scoping of promising interventions to implement at the community or state level. 2023. doi.org/10.17226/27239.
- Campbell KJ, Lioret S, McNaughton SA, et al. A parent-focused intervention to reduce infant obesity risk behaviors: a randomized trial. Pediatrics. 2013;131(4):652–660.
Last updated27 May 2026