Improving physical activity and screen time in Australian Outside School Hours Care: Study protocol.

Area of Science:

• Child Health
• Public Health Interventions
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Children's physical activity and screen time are crucial for well-being, yet Australian children often fall short of recommendations.
• Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) services are vital for promoting healthy habits in school-aged children.
• Current OSHC practices for physical activity and screen time lack consistency and policy direction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of the Activated OSHC program on children's physical activity and screen time.
• To assess the implementation and effectiveness of a policy-based intervention in OSHC settings.
• To determine if adherence to OSHC sector guidelines improves children's health behaviors.

Main Methods:

• An effectiveness-implementation hybrid type 2 trial involving 192 Australian OSHC services.
• Random allocation of 96 services to the Activated OSHC program, with 96 in the control group.
• Online surveys for coordinators on scheduling, cost, acceptability, and feasibility; mixed-effects regression models for outcomes.

Main Results:

• Primary outcome: Changes in the proportion of intervention vs. control services meeting physical activity and screen time guidelines.
• Secondary outcomes: Changes in children's physical activity and screen time, and staff behaviors.
• Data analysis using mixed-effects regression models to assess intervention effects.

Conclusions:

• The Activated OSHC program aims to improve adherence to physical activity and screen time guidelines within OSHC services.
• Implementation of these guidelines through the program has the potential to positively influence children's health behaviors.
• This study will provide evidence on the effectiveness and implementation of a policy-based intervention in the OSHC sector.