Environmental factors associated with physical activity in childcare centers

Abstract

BackgroundChild care centers influence physical activity levels among children, yet little is known about the specific aspects of the environment that support generous amounts of activity. The purpose of this study was to examine the practices, and environmental aspects of the child care center that are associated with children’s moderate and vigorous physical activity.MethodsThirty-five child care centers serving 389 3 to 5 year old children were assessed for: 1) environmental characteristics of the center; and 2) staff practices related to child physical activity. Children’s physical activity was measured using accelerometers over a single day in child care.ResultsFourteen percent (an average of 9 minutes per waking hour) were spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The strongest environmental predictors of MVPA were: time spent in outdoor play, suitability of indoor play space, and teacher encouragement of (but not participation in) indoor play.ConclusionsIn order to reach the U.S. recommended 120 minutes of physical activity per day, significant changes will need to occur in the child care setting, including increased time outdoors and more opportunities for indoor physical activity.

Preschool and childcare center characteristics associated with children’s physical activity during care hours: an observational study

“…In contrast to findings in the current study, previous studies and a systematic review have found that factors such as staff education and training, staff behaviour and encouragement, outdoor and indoor play spaces, outdoor play, the presence of vegetation, availability of portable play equipment, quality of the care environment and time outdoors, are associated with physical activity during care hours [25, 31, 48–51]. Differences in reported associations between those studies and the current findings may be attributable to differences in study methodologies, operationalisation of the physical activity outcome variable, different analysis strategies, or differences in the social, cultural and political environments within which children and centers exist.…”

Healthy Start—Départ Santé: A pilot study of a multilevel intervention to increase physical activity, fundamental movement skills and healthy eating in rural childcare centres

“…[22][23][24] Moreover, rural childcare centres have reported being influenced by additional factors associated with geographic location, such as resources and training for educators, access to facilities and space for indoor play, and access to fresh, healthy food year round. 12 The current pilot study tested the effectiveness of Healthy Start in addressing specific factors shown to influence physical activity and healthy eating within rural childcare centres.…”

Correlates of home and neighbourhood-based physical activity in UK 3–4-year-old children

“…home, childcare, community) may provide more targeted direction for intervention programming within these settings 7 . Although several studies have focused on correlates of preschool children’s physical activity and/or ST in the childcare or preschool setting, 8–11 there remains a dearth of information regarding context-specific correlates of physical activity outside of formal care.…”