Active Play Intervention for Preschoolers

Auburn University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Exercise

Treatments: Behavioral: Active Play planned movement program

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05744791

10-217 MR 1009

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this randomized clinical trial is to examine the effects of a planned movement in preschool-aged children. The main question is to determine

* What are the effects of a planned movement program on physical activity, body composition, fundamental motor skills, and time on task in preschool children aged 3-5 years?

Researchers will compare a planned movement program to a control group, where current instruction is implemented.

Full description

A majority of preschool children do not participate in the recommended levels of physical activity and are deficient in fundamental motor skills. These deficits may also impact body composition. Preschool teachers serve as the gateway to providing physical activity opportunities at preschool but many fail to do so. As play is developmentally appropriate for preschools and part of many curriculums adding active elements to play may be a feasible solution for teachers to implement physical activity opportunities. This project will evaluate the effect of a planned movement program that incorporates elements of active play on preschoolers' body composition, physical activity, time on task, and fundamental motor skills at week 0, week 12, and week 24. Physical Activity will be assessed throughout the school year with a wrist-worn wearable accelerometer. Body composition will be assessed with a foot-to-foot bioelectrical impedance scale. Fundamental motor skills will be assessed by the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales 2nd Edition and Time on-task will be measured by observing children in their classroom. The outcomes of this study will be used to implement sustainable physical activity programming for preschoolers.

Enrollment: 50 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 3 to 5 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• 3 to 5 years of age
• attending one of the preschools 5 days a week.

Exclusion criteria

• less than 3 years of age
• greater than 5 years of age at the beginning of the study
• attends the preschool 2 days or 3 days a week

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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50 participants in 2 patient groups

Active Play Intervention

Experimental group

Description:

Preschool teachers will be asked to implement two active play activities each preschool day, one indoors and one outdoors. This is in addition to the current outdoor free play of 30 minutes each day. Each activity is 10-15 minutes for a total of 20-30 minutes per day.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Active Play planned movement program

Control

No Intervention group

Description:

Preschool teachers will continue to implement their regular curriculum. This consists of one outdoor play opportunity for 30 minutes each day.