Childhood Obesity
Conditions
Keywords
childcare center regulations, physical activity, sedentary behavior, screen-time behavior
Brief summary
The goal of this project is to examine the physical activity and screen-time environment of licensed childcare centers before and after the enactment of new state regulations.
Detailed description
Pause and Play will take a prospective observational epidemiological approach before and after enactment of new regulations. 10 childcare centers licensed in East Baton Rouge Parish will be randomly selected and standardized behavioral observation scales will be used to objectively quantify the physical activity and screen-time environment of the centers and the children's behaviors both in and outside the center. These assessments will be collected twice during the 2-year grant period to capture potential changes after the policies are implemented.
Interventions
None listed
Sponsors
National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)
Pennington Biomedical Research Center
Study design
Observational model
CASE_ONLY
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
3 Years to 4 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Licensed by DOE as a Class A or Class B childcare center * Located in East Baton Rouge Parish * Current childcare enrollment of at least 18 children between the ages of 3-4 years
Exclusion criteria
* Childcare center and/or childcare center director unwilling to participate
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation (EPAO) Score and EPAO Subscales. | 1 year | The EPAO instrument will be used, which is a comprehensive, day-long observation that objectively defines the nutrition and physical activity environmental characteristics of child care centers. To address the specific aim, only the EPAO variables related to physical activity and screen-time will be included in the assessment. Means, standard deviations, and Pearson correlations will be calculated to describe the sample and examine relationships among the environment subscales at baseline and follow-up. Differences in center characteristics (i.e. racial distribution) will be tested using t-tests and chi-square tests. Repeated measures analysis of covariance (ANCOVAs) will be used to examine change in the EPAO score overall. Higher scores indicate higher compliance with best practices. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Changes in Practice-based Survey Items Based on Childcare Director Responses. | 1 Year | A survey will be administered to the director of each childcare center to determine the following: awareness of the new policy; structured programs and/or field trips that allow children to be physically active (including number of times per day or week); if one or more community organizations support or provide physical activity programs at the center; whether or not the childcare center has policies regarding television viewing and computer use; amount of time allowed for free play; and amount of time spent outside. |
Countries
United States
Participant flow
Participants by arm
| Arm | Count |
|---|---|
| ECE Center Changes and Changes in Child Physical Activity Aim 1 of this study was to evaluate the association among ECE center changes in practices, environment, staff behaviors, and policies, and changes in child physical activity and sedentary behavior while attending the ECE centers. | 49 |
| Total | 49 |
Baseline characteristics
| Characteristic | ECE Center Changes and Changes in Child Physical Activity |
|---|---|
| Age, Categorical <=18 years | 49 Participants |
| Age, Categorical >=65 years | 0 Participants |
| Age, Categorical Between 18 and 65 years | 0 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Race African American | 7 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Race Other | 5 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Race White | 37 Participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Female | 24 Participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Male | 25 Participants |
Adverse events
| Event type | EG000 affected / at risk |
|---|---|
| deaths Total, all-cause mortality | 0 / 112 |
| other Total, other adverse events | 0 / 112 |
| serious Total, serious adverse events | 0 / 112 |
Outcome results
Primary
Change in Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation (EPAO) Score and EPAO Subscales.
The EPAO instrument will be used, which is a comprehensive, day-long observation that objectively defines the nutrition and physical activity environmental characteristics of child care centers. To address the specific aim, only the EPAO variables related to physical activity and screen-time will be included in the assessment. Means, standard deviations, and Pearson correlations will be calculated to describe the sample and examine relationships among the environment subscales at baseline and follow-up. Differences in center characteristics (i.e. racial distribution) will be tested using t-tests and chi-square tests. Repeated measures analysis of covariance (ANCOVAs) will be used to examine change in the EPAO score overall. Higher scores indicate higher compliance with best practices.
Time frame: 1 year
| Arm | Measure | Group | Value (MEAN) | Dispersion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ECE Center Changes and Changes in Child Physical Activity | Change in Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation (EPAO) Score and EPAO Subscales. | Active Play (minutes) | -.12 minutes | Standard Error 0.05 |
| ECE Center Changes and Changes in Child Physical Activity | Change in Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation (EPAO) Score and EPAO Subscales. | Television viewing (minutes) | .21 minutes | Standard Error 0.28 |
| ECE Center Changes and Changes in Child Physical Activity | Change in Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation (EPAO) Score and EPAO Subscales. | Non-television screen-time (minutes) | .25 minutes | Standard Error 0.1 |
| ECE Center Changes and Changes in Child Physical Activity | Change in Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation (EPAO) Score and EPAO Subscales. | Television screen-time (minutes) | .21 minutes | Standard Error 0.11 |
Secondary
Changes in Practice-based Survey Items Based on Childcare Director Responses.
A survey will be administered to the director of each childcare center to determine the following: awareness of the new policy; structured programs and/or field trips that allow children to be physically active (including number of times per day or week); if one or more community organizations support or provide physical activity programs at the center; whether or not the childcare center has policies regarding television viewing and computer use; amount of time allowed for free play; and amount of time spent outside.
Time frame: 1 Year
Population: Ten centers were enrolled in this Study. One site dropped out. The analysis provided is only year two.
| Arm | Measure | Group | Category | Value (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ECE Center Changes and Changes in Child Physical Activity | Changes in Practice-based Survey Items Based on Childcare Director Responses. | Awareness of new policy (Year 2) | Yes | 7 Participants |
| ECE Center Changes and Changes in Child Physical Activity | Changes in Practice-based Survey Items Based on Childcare Director Responses. | Awareness of new policy (Year 2) | No | 2 Participants |
| ECE Center Changes and Changes in Child Physical Activity | Changes in Practice-based Survey Items Based on Childcare Director Responses. | Field Trips (Year 2) | Yes | 5 Participants |
| ECE Center Changes and Changes in Child Physical Activity | Changes in Practice-based Survey Items Based on Childcare Director Responses. | Field Trips (Year 2) | No | 4 Participants |
| ECE Center Changes and Changes in Child Physical Activity | Changes in Practice-based Survey Items Based on Childcare Director Responses. | Community organizations - provide physical activity programs (Year 2) | Yes | 3 Participants |
| ECE Center Changes and Changes in Child Physical Activity | Changes in Practice-based Survey Items Based on Childcare Director Responses. | Community organizations - provide physical activity programs (Year 2) | No | 6 Participants |
| ECE Center Changes and Changes in Child Physical Activity | Changes in Practice-based Survey Items Based on Childcare Director Responses. | Children are not allowed any screen time at the center (Year 2) | Yes | 4 Participants |
| ECE Center Changes and Changes in Child Physical Activity | Changes in Practice-based Survey Items Based on Childcare Director Responses. | Children are not allowed any screen time at the center (Year 2) | No | 5 Participants |
| ECE Center Changes and Changes in Child Physical Activity | Changes in Practice-based Survey Items Based on Childcare Director Responses. | Children are allowed at least 60 minutes of free play (Year 2) | Yes | 9 Participants |
| ECE Center Changes and Changes in Child Physical Activity | Changes in Practice-based Survey Items Based on Childcare Director Responses. | Children are allowed at least 60 minutes of free play (Year 2) | No | 0 Participants |
| ECE Center Changes and Changes in Child Physical Activity | Changes in Practice-based Survey Items Based on Childcare Director Responses. | Children are allowed at least 90 minutes of outdoor time (Year 2) | Yes | 5 Participants |
| ECE Center Changes and Changes in Child Physical Activity | Changes in Practice-based Survey Items Based on Childcare Director Responses. | Children are allowed at least 90 minutes of outdoor time (Year 2) | No | 4 Participants |