Physical activity in out of school hours care: an observational study

Abstract

Background Opportunities for physical activity within out of school hours care (OSHC) are not well documented in Australia. This study explored factors associated with children (5–12 years) meeting 30 min of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) while attending OSHC in the afternoon period. Methods A cross-sectional study, conducted in 89 OSHC services in New South Wales, Australia, serving 4,408 children. Each service was visited twice between 2018–2019. Physical activity promotion practices were captured via short interviews and System for Observing Staff Promotion of Physical Activity and Nutrition (SOSPAN). Physical activity spaces was measured (m2) and physical activity of 3,614 child days (42% girls), were collected using Acti-Graph accelerometers. Association between program practices and children accumulation of MVPA was tested using mixed effects logistic regression, adjusted by OSHC service and child. Results Twenty-six percent of children (n = 925) accumulated 30 min or more of MVPA. Factors associated with children reaching MVPA recommendations included: services scheduling greater amounts of child-led free play, both 30–59 min (OR 2.6, 95%CI 1.70, 3.98) and ≥ 60 min (OR 6.4, 95%CI 3.90, 10.49); opportunities for staff-led organised play of ≥ 30 min (OR 2.3, 95%CI 1.47, 3.83); and active games that engaged the majority of children (OR 1.7, 95%CI 1.11, 2.61). Children were less likely to meet MVPA recommendations if services played games with elimination components (OR 0.56, 95%CI 0.37, 0.86). Conclusion Improvements to service-level physical activity promotion practices, specifically the type of physical activity scheduled and the structure of games, may be an effective strategy to increase MVPA of children attending OSHC afterschool in NSW, Australia.

Correlates of physical activity and sedentary behaviour in children attending before and after school care: a systematic review

“…Most studies (61%) were conducted in the United States ( n = 11) [ 19 – 24 , 28 , 33 – 36 ]. The remainder were from Australia ( n = 2) [ 26 , 31 ], Norway ( n = 2) [ 30 , 32 ], Canada ( n = 1) [ 25 ], Denmark ( n = 1) [ 27 ] and Germany ( n = 1) [ 29 ]. All studies were conducted in after school programs ( n = 18) with no studies in before school care settings.…”

“…Thirteen studies used accelerometers [ 19 – 24 , 26 , 27 , 29 , 30 , 32 – 34 ], one study used pedometers [ 20 ], and six studies used direct observations via three tools—System for Observing Play and Leisure Activity in Youth (SOPLAY) ( n = 4) [ 28 , 31 , 35 , 36 ], Test of Gross Motor Development 2 ( n = 1) [ 25 ], and one other unnamed observation tool ( n = 1) [ 30 ]. Correlational information on the PA and sedentary behaviour environments was collected from policy reviews using five tools: System for Observing Staff Promotion of Activity and Nutrition (SOSPAN) ( n = 3) [ 26 , 31 , 35 ], Healthy Afterschool Program Index-Physical Activity (HAPI-PA) scale ( n = 1) [ 19 ], Healthy Afterschool Activity and Nutrition Documentation (HAAND) ( n = 2) [ 26 , 31 ], a PA policy environment framework ( n = 1) [ 21 ] and policy benchmarks ( n = 1) [ 22 ]. Other correlational information was collected from a review of the service schedule ( n = 2) [ 23 , 24 ], an unnamed psychosocial questionnaire ( n = 1) [ 33 ], Motivational Climate Observation Tool for Physical Activity (MCOT-PA) ( n = 1) [ 36 ], and administrative records ( n = 1) [ 33 ].…”

“…The most frequently observed individual correlates were sex and BMI. Seven studies [ 22 , 26 , 29 , 30 , 32 – 34 ] reported 30 associations between sex and varying PA outcomes, six of which found 20 significantly positive associations ( n = 20/30) [ 22 , 26 , 29 , 32 – 34 ]. This indicates a positive association between sex and PA, with males more physically active than females.…”

“…Five studies [ 19 , 22 , 32 – 34 ] reported 26 associations with BMI, of which only four studies found five which were significantly negative ( n = 5/26) [ 19 , 22 , 32 , 34 ] indicating an overall null association. An inconclusive association was also found between PA and age, with three studies reporting eight significant negative associations out of 16 total ( n = 8/16) [ 19 , 22 , 26 ].…”

“…Six individual level correlates relating to sedentary behaviour were also identified (Additional file 2 ), with the most frequently observed being sex, BMI and age. Five studies reported eight associations between sex and sedentary behaviour, six of which were significantly negative indicating an overall negative association and showing that females were more sedentary than males ( n = 6/8) [ 26 , 29 , 30 , 32 ]. An overall inconclusive association was found between BMI and sedentary behaviour, with three studies reporting seven non-significant associations ( n = 0/7) [ 19 , 32 , 34 ].…”