PLAY (PhysicaL ActivitY) Policy Study
Condition: Motor Activity
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This study examines the effectiveness and appropriateness of a written physical activity
      policy implemented in licensed centre-based childcare on the physical activity levels of
      toddlers (1-2) and preschoolers (3-5 years). Half of the childcare centres will adopt the
      physical activity policy while the other half will continue with their typical daily
      programming and care. It is hypothesized that children enrolled in childcare centres that
      adopt the policy will display increased levels of physical activity during, and after
      participating in the policy intervention compared to children enrolled in centres that do not
      adopt the policy.
    

Detailed description: 
      A pilot, cluster single-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT) will be conducted.
      Approximately 8 licensed childcare centres will be randomly selected from an online listing
      of centres in London, Canada. Since it is necessary to implement the policy at the
      centre-level to groups of children, the childcare centres (i.e., the clusters) rather than
      the individual participants, will be randomly allocated to either implement the physical
      activity policy (experimental; n = 4), or maintain their daily programming (control; n = 4)
      for the 8-week intervention period.

      In both groups, toddlers' and preschoolers' physical activity will be objectively measured
      using motion sensors (ActiGraph wGT3X-BT accelerometers) worn on an elastic waistband for 5
      consecutive days, during childcare hours, before the policy is implemented (baseline; week 0;
      September 2018), mid-intervention (week 4; October 2018), one week after the intervention
      period ends (post-intervention; week 9; November/December 2018), and 6-months
      post-intervention (May-June 2019).

      The aim of the study is to examine the impact of a childcare physical activity policy on the
      objectively measured physical activity levels (light physical activity, LPA;
      moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, MVPA), and combined total physical activity (TPA),
      and sedentary time of young children in childcare centres compared to children from centres
      that maintain their usual standard of care.
    

Intervention name(s): PLAY (PhysicaL ActivitY) Policy Intervention
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): An evidence-based physical activity policy that was developed by researchers and childcare stakeholders and directed by the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years will be adopted by experimental group childcare centres for 8 weeks. The policy incorporates 8 items (i.e., encouraging children to engage in higher intensity energetic play often, aiming to accumulate 40 minutes each day, exposing children to a variety of indoor and outdoor physical activities, child-directed and teacher-facilitated active play daily, short bouts of outdoor time for a total of 120 minutes each day made up of primarily unstructured free play, encouraging physical literacy by practicing fundamental movement skills, not exposing children to screen-based technology during childcare, and purposefully breaking up sustained sedentary time using physical activities).
Other intervention name(s): Examining a childcare policy to promote children's physical activity
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: Cluster randomized controlled trial
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Other
Keywords: Physical activity; Children; Child care; Policy; Accelerometer