None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
The preschool years are considered a critical time in which to establish healthy behaviours in childhood and into the future. One of the best opportunities to support physically active lifestyles among a large number of young children lies in the child care setting. The childcare centre has been shown to account for a significant proportion of the variability in children’s physical activity behaviour while in care and child care centres also have the existing infrastructure to support adequate physical activity. However research suggests children are unlikely to be sufficiently active whilst in care. To date there is little research examining the efficacy of physical activity interventions implemented in the childcare setting therefore the primary aim of this study is to assess the efficacy of a physical activity intervention in increasing physical activity levels among 3 to 6 year old children attending long day care services as assessed by pedometer step counts.
Interventions
The intervention has been developed by an advisory group with representation from the Department of Community Services, NSW Health, local authorised supervisors, health promotion practitioners, paediatric researchers and physical activity experts. Specifically, the intervention, will be implemented in long day care services over a 16 week period and will consist of the following components:
1. Limiting small screen recreation and sedentary behaviours:
Services will be supported to develop and
The intervention has been developed by an advisory group with representation from the Department of Community Services, NSW Health, local authorised supervisors, health promotion practitioners, paediatric researchers and physical activity experts. Specifically, the intervention, will be implemented in long day care services over a 16 week period and will consist of the following components: 1. Limiting small screen recreation and sedentary behaviours: Services will be supported to develop and implement a policy requiring that children two years and over limit time watching or using electronic media and that all children are not sedentary for longer than 30 minutes at a time (except when sleeping) . The policy will also require services to integrate physical activities into the curriculum, program structured time for physical activity, ensure staff are appropriately trained in physical activity and engage parents in policy development and physical activity programming. 2. Engagement in Daily fundamental movement skill (FMS) development: To ensure appropriate developmental milestones are met, services will engage children in age and developmentally appropriate FMS activities. FMS development will be supported through both programmed structured and unstructured free play activities. Engagement in skill development will also be facilitated through the provision of verbal cues and affirmation by staff. 3.Increasing opportunities for active play: Intervention services will be supported to provide a combination of structured (including dance, active games and active transitions) and unstructured child initiated opportunities (socio-dramatic props, equipment, provocations) for children to engage in active play . Staff practices will involve being active participants in child initiated play, and providing verbal prompts to encourage and promote active play. 4.Supportive environment for active play: Services will be supported to modify equipment availability and setup of indoor and outdoor environments. 5. Integrated learning: Opportunities for children to learn about physical activity will be programmed and integrated across learning areas. Services will be supported by the research team to implement the intervention. Specifically service staff will attend a full day training workshop provided access to online professional development. The training will be conducted by a childhood physical activity consultant with experience working with childcare services. At the training services will receive a resource package including practical games, dvd’s and ideas to facilitate implementation of intervention components. Services will also be encouraged to communicate with and engage parents in service level changes, to engage child physical activity and implement supportive policies. Services will receive standardised scheduled support calls, and emails/faxes to support implementation.
Sponsors
Dr Luke Wolfenden
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Prevention
Masking
Blinded (masking used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
3 Years to 6 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Long Day Care Services -For a service to be eligible it will be within the Newcastle and lake Macquarie geographic region of NSW Australia and have a minimum total number of children enrolled aged 3-6 years of at least 30. Children For children within the service to be eligible to participate they will be aged 3-6 years, have parental consent and attend care on the designated day that data collection occurs.
Exclusion criteria
Long Day Care Services: Services serving special needs populations will be excluded from participating in the trial given the specialist care required for such children and the likelihood of a differential effect in this population group. Services where the Authorised Supervisor is a member of the program advisory group will also be excluded from the trial given the potential for contamination regarding intervention components. Children: Children at the service with special needs will be excluded from participating in the trial.
Outcome results
None listed