Fostering physical activity for children in child care

Australian children spend considerable time in child care. Caregivers and the care environment can appreciably influence the physical activity patterns of children placed in day care centres. The amount and type of physical activity young children engage in can have an impact on later motor skill competence and activity seeking behaviour. This paper is an evaluation of the social and environmental variables that influence physical activity behaviour for children aged 3 – 5 years in centre based long day care environments. Centre based care usually caters for up to 35 children aged from birth to 5 years providing care all-day, or for part of the day, in facilities specially built or adapted for child care. Within Gippsland, Victoria, long day care (N = 3) centers were evaluated to identify affordances and constraints for physical activity. An environment analysis using quantitative techniques was used to describe influencing environmental factors, while three focus group interviews were conducted with staff and administrators exploring feelings towards physical activity. The environment analysis revealed that the opportunities for movement were influenced by the availability of appropriate equipment, time spent outside, weather, rules and regulations, length of stay, and most importantly available space (particularly outdoors). Focus group interviews revealed that all groups valued physical activity for young children, however staff was concerned about their ability to promote physical activity for young children. Issues concerning social and environmental barriers to appropriate physical activity experiences are raised that have implications for planners, administrators, carers, and parents of children associated with long day care. Fostering physical activity for children in child care Within Australia the use of formal child care is often linked to work commitments of parents and in particular mothers. Indications are that more and more children are spending considerable time in the care of others and the quality of this care has the potential to significantly impact upon children’s lives (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1999). In June 1999, formal care was used by 23% (733,200) of Australian children, which represents an increase over previous years (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1999). The most commonly used types of formal care were long day care and preschool (33% and 32% respectively), followed by before and after school care programs (21%), family day care (12%), and occasional care (6%). Of those children who used formal care 43% were less than five years of age. An upward trend in the use of formal child care has been noted over the past decade with 60% of children using it for 5-19 hours per week (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1999). It is generally agreed that during the preschool years, children should be encouraged to practice movement skills and engage in appropriate physical activity for health, social, and psychological reasons (American Medical Association, 1999; Corbin, Pangrazi, & Welk, 1994; National Association for Sport and Physical Education, 2002; Shilton & Naughton, 2001). While physical activity data for Australian children are not systematically collected at a National level, the prevalence of insufficient physical activity in adults (43%), coupled with high rates of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents (21% for boys and 23% for girls), gives rise to major health concerns (Shilton & Naughton, 2001). While the relationship between physical activities during childhood and longer term adult health outcomes remains unclear, there is growing support to establish a lifestyle that includes physical activity at an early age (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1996). Importance of Physical Activity for Young Children. Regular participation in physical activity has been well established as an integral part of a healthy lifestyle in adults (Pate et al., 1995). It has been recognized that most diseases affected by exercise (such as coronary heart disease, hypertension, obesity, and osteoporosis) are a result of life-long processes, usually surfacing clinically in the older adult years (Corbin et al., 1994; National Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2000). Clinical markers of hypokinetic disease have been observed in children (Boreham, Twisk, Savage, Cran, & Strain, 1997; National Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2000). For Australian children, the increased prevalence of overweight and obesity may be attributed to decreasing activity, increasing inactivity, and a rising caloric intake (Goodman, Lewis, Dixon, & Travers, 2002; Magarey, Daniels, & Boulton, 2001). These results have placed an emphasis on promoting exercise habits in children and adolescents as the starting point of a life-style of regular exercise that will continue through adulthood (Corbin et al., 1994). While some evidence exists to support the tracking of cardiovascular disease risk factors into adulthood (Kemper, Snel, Verschuur, & Storm-van Essen, 1990; Wang, Ge, & Popkin, 2000), data demonstrating the tracking of physical activity behaviours is more limited (Kohl & Hobbs, 1998). The lack of supporting evidence may be as much a problem of assessing physical activity in children as much as it is one of tracking (Kohl & Hobbs, 1998). While there appears to be some support for the notion that activity tracks in children (Pate, Baranowski, Dowda, & Trost, 1996) and that inactive children and youth are likely to become inactive adults (Corbin & Pangrazi, 1998), the lack of hard evidence for tracking physical activity has been substituted with a common sense argument. This argument is based on the belief that early positive physical activity experiences will predispose people to enjoy physical activity in later years (Booth, 2001; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1997; Corbin & Pangrazi, 1998; Medical Journal of Australia, 2000). In addition to physiological and potential public health benefits, children who exercise regularly have higher self-esteem and may exhibit reduced risk taking behaviours (Brown & Brown, 1996; Dinubile, 1993). Importance of Movement Skill Development for Young Children. Early childhood forms a unique period where children undergo significant social, intellectual, emotional, and physical development. Enhancement of movement skills is believed to play an important role in the development of children within the physical domain, with potential carry-over into the social and cognitive domains (Gabbard, 1988). Body management activities, manipulation opportunities with a variety of equipment, and both locomotor and non-locomotor activities should form the basis of a young child’s pre-school movement experience (Carson, 1994; COPEC, 1994; Gallahue & Ozmun, 1998; Sanders, 1992). Fundamental movement skills are basic movement patterns that can be adapted, combined and refined serving to provide a foundation from which more complicated skills can be established and later applied to lifetime sporting, recreational, and physical activities (Carson, 1994; Gallahue & Ozmun, 1998). Fundamental movement skill (catch, throw, kick and the like) competency amongst Australian primary school aged children is considered by some to be poor (Booth et al., 1997; Walkley, Holland, Treloar, & Probyn-Smith, 1993). Because success is a strong predictor of motivation to participate and persist in sport, it is essential that young children be provided with opportunities to establish appropriate movement skill competencies at an early age (Walkley et al., 1993; Weiss, 2000; Weiss & Ebbeck, 1996). Without those competencies children are less likely to participate in physical activity as they get older. Okley, Booth, and Patterson (2001) found fundamental movement skill proficiency among other things, to be significantly associated with adolescents’ participation in organized physical activity. Barriers and opportunities for early childhood movement. Literature exploring physical activity levels of children who are placed in care environments is limited. Deal (1993) used heart rate and log book recordings to compare daily activity patterns between children who attended day care and those enrolled in a developmental movement program. The children in the study were largely sedentary with mean heart rates ranging from 109 beats per minute to 115 beats per minute while some children did not record a single reading above 130 beats per minute for four consecutive hours. Children involved in a directed movement program had significantly higher activity levels than those in care, however no difference between the groups existed during time spent at home. This supports other investigations of preschoolers in the home environment that have found little time is spent engaged in vigorous activity with the greatest portion of time devoted to sedentary or low level activity (Deal, 1993; Freedson, 1989; Saris, 1986). Higher levels of physical activity have been associated with outdoor play (Deal, 1993; Klesges, Eck, Hanson, Haddock, & Klesges, 1990). The positive effect of an outdoor environment on activity levels of children may have important implications because of the greater tendency for large muscle motor activity and higher levels of physical activity in comparison to indoor environments (Deal, 1993; Klesges et al., 1990). Taggart and Keegan (1997) investigated movement skills of five year old children in pre-primary centres during outdoor play time. Children in these centres rarely engaged in the fundamental movement skills of kicking, catching, and striking while the dominant behaviours were climbing, jumping, and running. This is consistent with findings by Schiller and Broadhurst (2002) who found that only 18% of teachers and directors of early childhood centres provided balls and bean bags for throwing, striking, and kicking activities. Taggart and