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Relationship between children's physical activity, sedentary behavior, and childcare environments: A cross sectional
Michele E Peden1, Rachel Jones1, Silvia Costa2
1Early Start Research Institute, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.
Preventive Medicine Reports
|March 29, 2017
Summary
Childcare environments impact young children's activity levels. High-quality childcare settings with fewer sedentary areas and more portable play equipment help reduce sitting time in toddlers and preschoolers.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Environmental Health
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Childcare settings significantly influence the daily physical activity and sedentary behavior of young children.
- Understanding the impact of the childcare environment is crucial for promoting healthy development in toddlers and preschoolers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between the childcare environment, assessed by the Environment and Policy Assessment Observation (EPAO) instrument, and the physical activity and sedentary behavior of toddlers and preschoolers.
- To identify specific environmental factors within childcare services that are associated with children's activity and sitting time.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study involving 68 toddlers (1.0-2.9 years) and 233 preschoolers (3.0-5.9 years) from 11 childcare services in Australia.
- Childcare environments were categorized as low, medium, or high based on EPAO scores. Physical activity and sitting time were measured over one week using activPAL accelerometers.
- Multilevel mixed-effects linear regression was used to analyze the relationship between the EPAO and children's behaviors.
Main Results:
- Toddlers in high EPAO childcare services exhibited more sitting time (8.73 min) and less standing time (-13.64 min) compared to those in low EPAO services.
- Preschoolers in high EPAO services showed reduced sitting time (-7.81 min) compared to those in low and medium EPAO services.
- Specific EPAO sub-categories associated with less sitting included sedentary environments for toddlers and the availability of portable play equipment for preschoolers.
Conclusions:
- The childcare environment plays a differential role in the physical activity and sedentary behavior of toddlers and preschoolers.
- Sedentary environments in childcare are linked to increased sitting time for toddlers, while portable play equipment is associated with reduced sitting time for preschoolers.
- Further research is needed to fully understand how childcare environments influence sitting time across different age groups of young children.
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