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“Policies and Practices to Enhance Children’s Physical Activity in Preschools”

William H. Brown, PhD

University of South Carolina

Eleventh National Early Childhood Inclusion

Institute:Innovations in Inclusion

May 17, 2011Chapel Hill , North Carolina

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Obesity: A National Problem

Healthy People 2020 (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2010)

“The Epidemic of Childhood Obesity: Review of Research and Implications for Policy” Social Policy Report: Society for Research in Child Development (Krishnamoorthy, Hart, & Jelalian, 2006)

increased LDL cholesteroldecreased HDL cholesterolincreased triglyceridesatherosclerotic plaques

hypertensionincreased type 2 diabetessleep apneaorthopedic problems

Health Implications for ChildrenHealth Implications for Children

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Preschoolers At Risk for Overweight & Obesity

Among 2- to 5-year-old children in the U. S., the prevalence of overweight is 24.4% (Ogden, Carroll, & Flegal, 2008)

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Putative Causes of Childhood Obesity

Researchers have hypothesized that increased rates of obesity are related to decreases in physical activity dietary changes or both

CHILD

Outside play time

Nutrition Education

Meals

Opportunities for physical activity

Role Modeling

Built Environment

THE HEALTH ENVIRONMENT OF A CHILD

Food Rewards

Parent Education

No playtime punishments

Candy fundraisers

Snacks

Parties

Professional Development

Children’s Activity and Movement in Preschools Study

Interdisciplinary research team headed by Russ Pate in the Arnold School of Public Health and funded by NICHD Cheryl Addy, Bill Brown, Marsha

Dowda, Kerry McIver, Jennifer O’Neil, Karin Pfeiffer, and others

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OSRAC-P

At least 5 hours per child of observational data from 476 children in 24 community-based preschools in SC childcare centers (n = 12) church-affiliated preschools (n = 8) Head Start programs (n = 4)

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Encourage Children’s Physical Activity

Outdoor Equipment Doesn’tAlways Promote PA

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Physical Activity in Preschools Preschools are sedentary in nature Very limited adult encouragement and

acknowledgement of physical activity in preschools, even during recess

Very restricted employment of intentional teaching to promote children’s physical activity

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Decrease “Screen Time”

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Three Evidence-Informed Recommendations for Outdoor Play Increase the amount of time that children

spend outdoors

Provide several shorter outdoor play activities to capture peak physical activity

Organize and directly encourage children’s vigorous activity during outdoor play

ABC Grow Healthy Pilot InitiativeCollaborative Effort among Department of Social

Services, Department of Health and Environmental Control, and Arnold School of Public Health at USC and funded by the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Nutrition and physical activity standards being evaluated in a pilot test in 19 child care centers in South Carolina

Nutrition and Physical Activity StandardsNutrition Policy -- create and consistently implement written

nutrition policies that address the 17 standards listed below (e.g., skim or 1% milk for children, do not serve sugar sweetened beverages, offer fruit (not juice) two times per day)

Physical Activity Policy -- create and consistently implement written physical activity policies that address the 15 standards listed below (e.g., provide daily outdoor play for at least 30 minutes for every 4 hours in program, provide outdoor portable play equipment, provide space for physical activity in case of bad weather)

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Applied Interventions

Hannon, J. C., & Brown, B. B. (2008). Increasing preschoolers' physical activity intensities: An activity-friendly preschool playground intervention. Preventive Medicine, 46, 532-536.

Brown, W. H., Googe, H. S., McIver, K. L., & Rathel, J. M. (2009). Effects of teacher-encouraged physical activity on preschool playgrounds. Journal of Early Intervention, 31(2), 126-145.

Teacher Enhanced Outdoor Physical Activity (Hannon & Brown, 2008)

Addition of portable materials related to running, jumping, and crawling (e.g., playground balls, hoops, target toss sets, tunnels)

New materials were arranged into activity stations around the playground

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Hannon and Brown (2008) Results

Three- to five-year-old girls and boys decreased sedentary behavior when materials present

Three- to five-year-old girls and boys increased light, moderate, and vigorous activity when materials present

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Teacher-Implemented Physical Activities

Activity-based intervention with a focus on children’s physical activity (cf. Bricker)

Modified “Plan, Do, and Review Process” (cf. High Scope) that focuses on encouraging MVPA during group activities at outdoor playtime

“Plan, Do, and Review Process”

Initial teacher discussion allows the teacher to “set the stage” for an activity (“PLANNING PHASE”)

Teacher participation with modeling PA or at least monitoring and careful supervision, increases the likelihood of children’s active engagement (“DOING PHASE”)

“Plan, Do, and Review Process”

Immediately after high-energy physical activity, employ a “COOL DOWN” strategy Examples: talking in soft relaxed voice, modeling deep

breathing to slowly relax participants, and providing a clear signal for the end of the high-energy activity

“Plan, Do, and Review Process”

Teacher discussion and feedback creates a classroom atmosphere that promotes healthy behaviors (“REVIEWING PHASE”)

Debriefing with children will also be a “teaching context” for preschoolers’ self-evaluation and development of their self-regulation

Main Messages

1. Preschool children need more physical activity during appropriate times of the school day

2. Preschool teachers are on the “front lines” of prevention in promoting healthy habits, dispositions, and lifestyles for young children’s physical activity

Main Messages

3. Preschool teachers “ought” to be proactive in implementing high-interest and high-energy activities that are embedded at appropriate times during the school day

Questions and DiscussionThank You!

William H. Brown

College of Education

University of South Carolina

bbrown@mailbox.sc.edu

Children’s Physical Activity Research Group

http://www.sph.sc.edu/USC_CPARG/

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