L’activité physique des enfants d’âge préscolaire — somme et méthode?Cet article est tiré d’un supplément intituléAdvancing physical activity measurement and guidelines in Canada: a scientific review and evidence-based foundation for the future of Canadian physical activity guidelines(Favoriser les lignes directrices et la mesure de l’activité physique au Canada: examen scientifique et justification selon les données probantes pour l’avenir des lignes directrices de l’activité physique canadienne) p

Abstract

Résumé : La tendance alarmante à l'obésité infantile même chez les enfants d'âge préscolaire souligne à nouveau l'importance de l'activité physique chez ce groupe d'âge. Du fait de cette préoccupation accrue, il importe de déterminer le type d'activité physique et la quantité à pratiquer pour un développement optimal de l'enfant à la période préscolaire, soit de 2 à 5 ans. à cette fin, nous dressons un bilan de la littérature scientifique afin d'établir la nature de l'activité physique à pratiquer en vue d'un développement global en santé (physique, cognitif, affectif et social) au cours de ces jeunes années. Nous portons une attention particulière à l'interaction de la pratique de l'activité physique et de l'acquisition d'habiletés motrices. De plus, nous analysons de près la nature de l'activité physique propice à la prise de poids normale au cours de l'enfance. Nous analysons aussi les principaux déterminants de la pratique de l'activité physique à cet âge et le rôle de l'environnement de l'enfant : la famille, les soins de l'enfant et le statut socio-économique. Nous donnons des recommandations en matière d'activité physique à la lumière des faits solidement étayés et nous proposons des pistes de recherche.Mots-clés : exercice physique, santé, enfance, croissance et développement. Abstract:Alarming trends in childhood obesity even among preschool children have re-focused attention on the importance of physical activity in this age group. With this increased attention comes the need to identify the amount and type of physical activity appropriate for optimal development of preschool children. The purpose of this paper is to provide the scientific evidence to support a link between physical activity and biological and psychosocial development during early childhood (ages 2-5 years). To do so, we summarize pertinent literature informing the nature of the physical activity required to promote healthy physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development during these early years. A particular focus is on the interaction between physical activity and motor skill acquisition. Special emphasis is also placed on the nature of physical activity that promotes healthy weight gain during this period of childhood. The paper also discusses the strongest determinants of physical activity in preschool-age children, including the role of the child's environment (e.g., family, child-care, and socio-economic status). We provide recommendations for physical activity based on the best available evidence, and identify future research needs.

Physical Activity Promotion in the Preschool Years: A Critical Period to Intervene

“…Data will be collected in 15-second epochs and Pfeiffer et al ’s [93] cut points for 3 to 5 year old children’s PA intensity will be applied to derive time spent at various intensities of movement. Research has shown that most young children in the age range we are targeting are amenable to wearing these monitors and produce valid measurements [62,93,94], thus we are expecting to eliminate very few children from the final analysis, consistent with our experience in our pilot study with preschoolers. Secondary objectives include how the intervention influences gross motor and fundamental movement skills and anthropometrics.…”

“…In addition, a pertinent review paper by Timmons and colleagues [62], has called for further research focusing on knowledge gaps in this critical period. The Australian Department of Health and Ageing commissioned a consortium paper [63] that specifically addressed the need ‘ for the development, implementation and evaluation of simple, well designed interventions to promote PA and reduce screen time in children during the early years ’.…”

Validation of parent-reported physical activity and sedentary time by accelerometry in young children

“…Further, parent-reported child structured activity was weakly correlated with accelerometer-measured total physical activity and its inclusion as a questionnaire item did not substantially improve the validation correlation. This may be expected for children less than 6 years of age, as most of a young child’s daily physical activity is unstructured [ 28 ].…”

Activity Begins in Childhood (ABC) – inspiring healthy active behaviour in preschoolers: study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial

“…There is a paucity of information on current trends in PA of preschool aged children in Canada, [32–34] and on the relationship between the ability of children to perform fundamental movement skills and prediction of PA [35]. A 2012 systematic review was recently performed by Timmons et al [36] to assemble and interpret the best available evidence for minimal and optimal amounts of PA needed to promote healthy growth and development in young children, including preschoolers.…”