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Effect of a governmentally-led physical activity program on motor skills in young children attending child care
Insights
The Youp'là Bouge physical activity program did not significantly improve child motor skills in Swiss child care centers. Implementation complexity and educator training are key factors for future program success.
Area of Science:
- Child development
- Public health interventions
- Pediatric physical activity
Background:
- Childhood obesity and developmental delays are significant public health concerns.
- Early childhood education settings are crucial environments for promoting healthy lifestyles.
- Governmental programs aim to enhance child well-being through structured activities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of the "Youp'là Bouge" program on motor skills in preschool children.
- To assess secondary outcomes including body mass index (BMI), physical activity levels, and quality of life.
- To explore factors influencing the implementation and effectiveness of the intervention.
Main Methods:
- A cluster randomized controlled trial involving 58 Swiss child care centers.
- Intervention included educator training, environmental adaptation, parental involvement, and daily physical activity.
- Primary outcome was motor skill development; secondary outcomes included BMI, physical activity, and quality of life.
Main Results:
- No significant improvements in motor skills or secondary outcomes were observed in the intervention group compared to the control group.
- Implementation varied across centers, with not all components fully adopted.
- Positive associations were found between specific intervention elements (e.g., movement space access, educator training) and trial outcomes.
Conclusions:
- Real-world implementation of child care physical activity programs is complex.
- Factors such as accessible movement spaces, parental engagement, and well-trained educators may enhance program effectiveness.
- Findings highlight the need for tailored strategies to optimize intervention delivery and impact.
Objective:
To assess the effect of a governmentally-led center based child care physical activity program (Youp'là Bouge) on child motor skills.
Patients And Methods:
We conducted a single blinded cluster randomized controlled trial in 58 Swiss child care centers. Centers were randomly selected and 1:1 assigned to a control or intervention group. The intervention lasted from September 2009 to June 2010 and included training of the educators, adaptation of the child care built environment, parental involvement and daily physical activity. Motor skill was the primary outcome and body mass index (BMI), physical activity and quality of life secondary outcomes. The intervention implementation was also assessed.
Results:
At baseline, 648 children present on the motor test day were included (age 3.3 ± 0.6, BMI 16.3 ± 1.3 kg/m2, 13.2% overweight, 49% girls) and 313 received the intervention. Relative to children in the control group (n = 201), children in the intervention group (n = 187) showed no significant increase in motor skills (delta of mean change (95% confidence interval: -0.2 (-0.8 to 0.3), p = 0.43) or in any of the secondary outcomes. Not all child care centers implemented all the intervention components. Within the intervention group, several predictors were positively associated with trial outcomes: (1) free-access to a movement space and parental information session for motor skills (2) highly motivated and trained educators for BMI (3) free-access to a movement space and purchase of mobile equipment for physical activity (all p < 0.05).
Conclusion:
This "real-life" physical activity program in child care centers confirms the complexity of implementing an intervention outside a study setting and identified potentially relevant predictors that could improve future programs.
Trial Registration:
Clinical trials.gov NCT00967460.
