Distinct Methods for Assessing Compliance With a Physical Activity Guideline for Children in Preschools

Abstract

Background: According to the US Institute of Medicine guideline, preschool-aged children should participate in ≥15 minutes of physical activity (PA) per hour or 3 hours per day over 12 hours. Examinations of PA guideline compliance to date averaged time spent in PA over several days; however, children could exceed the guideline on some days and not on others. Therefore, this cross-sectional study examined PA guideline compliance in preschool children based on number of minutes per hour (average method) and percentage of days the guideline was met (everyday method). Methods: PA was measured by accelerometry during the preschool day for up to 10 days in 177 children (59.3% males, Mage = 4.23). Minutes per hour and percentage of time in light, moderate to vigorous, and total PAs were calculated. Percentage of days in compliance was determined by number of days in compliance (defined as the child active on average ≥15 min/h) divided by total accelerometer days. Results: Children engaged in PA, on average, 17.01 minutes per hour, suggesting that on average, children are meeting the guideline. However, children were only in compliance with the PA guideline 62.41% of assessment days. Conclusions: Findings demonstrate the importance of examining compliance with both the average and everyday methods to more accurately portray level of Institute of Medicine PA guideline compliance.

Variations in Preschoolers’ Physical Activity Across the School Year

“…Findings generated from the International Children's Accelerometry Database suggest that seasons and weather have a greater effect on PA in preschool-aged children than that in older children and adolescents (16). In a previous observation of PA in preschoolers with no intervention in place, we found no significant differences in total amounts of PA and MVPA, nor the percentage of days the PA guideline was met between two different seasons (autumn and winter) (10). In the current study, variation in PA was observed over the course of a school year across the fall, winter, and spring seasons.…”

“…To examine the extent to which each child was in compliance with the IOM guideline on a daily basis, PA was considered to be compliant with the guideline if a participant was active, on average, for ≥15 min•h −1 on a given day. For each child, the number of days in compliance was divided by the total valid accelerometer days to yield the percentage of days in compliance with the guideline (10).…”

“…Children with at least three valid days during each of the five assessment points were included in the analysis (20,26,27). The percentage of time spent in light, moderate-to-vigorous (MVPA), and total PA (sum of light, moderate, and vigorous PA) was calculated for each participant using the child's total wear time as the individual divisor (10,11,20). Percentages of time in the activity levels were multiplied by 60 to allow for the expression of wear time as minutes per hour.…”

Moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity and processing speed: predicting adaptive change in ADHD levels and related impairments in preschoolers

“…Importantly, PA is a potentially low‐cost method of addressing a range of behavioral (and health) risks, yet it is widely underutilized. Although many preschools incorporate free play and outdoor time into their schedules, recent work shows that only 62% of preschool children studied met the recommended guideline of 15 min/hr of PA on a daily basis (Tompkins et al, 2019). Thus, a structured and systematic approach, such as implementation of a PA program like Kiddie CATs on the Move , may be necessary to provide children with adequate levels of PA.…”

Ecological correlates of Spanish preschoolers’ physical activity and sedentary behaviours during structured movement sessions

“…However, most published evidence has been generated in traditional PE classes, whereas little research has examined the ecological correlates of PA and SB in sessions guided by the principles of experiential psychomotricity. Despite studies showing low levels of PA and high levels of SB in ECE settings (De Craemer et al, 2018; Pate et al, 2004; Pereira et al, 2019; Tompkins et al, 2019; World Health Organization, 2019), movement sessions based on the principles of experiential psychomotricity have not been studied through accelerometry and direct observation in our country or in other countries in Europe. Even though accelerometry may be the objective measure of choice for evaluating young children’s PA (Chow et al, 2015; Van Cauwenberghe et al, 2012), this method alone could be insufficient for exploring the particular social patterns of PA correlates (McKenzie and van der Mars, 2015).…”