Child Care and Early Education Research Connections

Skip to main content

Evaluation of a multi-year policy-focused intervention to increase physical activity and related behaviors in lower-resourced early care and education settings: Active Early 2.0

Description:
Physical activity is a critical component of obesity prevention, but few interventions targeting early childhood have been described. The Active Early guide was designed to increase physical activity in early care and education (ECE) settings. The purpose of Active Early 2.0 was to evaluate the effectiveness of Active Early along with provider training, microgrant support, and technical assistance over 2 years (2012-2014) to increase physical activity and related behaviors (e.g., nutrition) in settings serving a high proportion of children from underserved groups in recognition of significant disparities in obesity and challenges meeting physical activity recommendations in low-resource settings. The physical activity and nutrition environment were assessed before and after the intervention in 15 ECE settings in Wisconsin using the Environment and Policy Observation Assessment tool, and interviews were conducted with providers and technical consultants. There was no significant change in Total Physical Activity Score or any EPAO subscale over the intervention period; however, significant improvements in the Total Nutrition Score and the several Nutrition subscales were observed. Additionally, the percentage of sites with written activity policies significantly increased. Overall minutes of teacher-led physical activity increased to 61.5 [plus or minus] 29.0 min (p 0.05). Interviews identified key benefits to children (i.e., more energy, better rest, improved behavior) and significant barriers, most notably care provider and child turnover and low parent engagement. Moderate policy and environmental improvements in physical activity and nutrition were achieved with this intervention, but more work is needed to understand and address barriers and to support sustained changes in lower-resource ECE settings. (author abstract)
Resource Type:
Reports & Papers
Country:
United States
State(s)/Territories/Tribal Nation(s):
Wisconsin

Related resources include summaries, versions, measures (instruments), or other resources in which the current document plays a part. Research products funded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation are related to their project records.

- You May Also Like

These resources share similarities with the current selection.

Interventions for increasing physical activity at child care

Literature Review

Active Early: One-year policy intervention to increase physical activity among early care and education programs in Wisconsin

Reports & Papers

Behavioral effects of a locomotor-based physical activity intervention in preschoolers

Reports & Papers
Release: 'v1.61.0' | Built: 2024-04-23 23:03:38 EDT