Healthy Children 2021 Study in Childcare Centers (HC2021)

University of Minho

Status: Completed

Conditions: Dietary Habits; Child Health; Child; Pediatric Obesity; Executive Function; Sleep; Family Health

Treatments: Behavioral: The education and training of early childhood educators and their intervention on children

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04082247

University of Minho

Details and patient eligibility

About

In Portugal, 17.3% of children under 10 years old are overweight and 7.7% are obese. Research has shown the implementation of healthy lifestyle promotion programs and obesity prevention, however "best practices" are far from being defined. Also, the first five years of life are important for the executive functions development, namely memory, inhibition (including self-regulation) and flexibility, which includes creative thinking, thinking "outside of the box", important in problem solving. The importance of social and emotional dimensions, as well as physical health for the development of cognitive health is consensual, as sleep deprivation, low physical activity, unhealthy food may inhibit the proper development of executive functions.

This project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a healthy lifestyle promotion program on emotional, social and cognitive development and eating habits, sleep and physical activity in children between 12 and 42 months of age.

A cluster randomised trial will be developed and 300 children, from 16 childcare centres will be invited to participate. Half of the childcare centres will be allocated to the control group and the other half to the intervention group. Data collection will occur before randomisation (at baseline) and after intervention. A feasibility study will be undertaken prior to the experimental study, in accordance with internationally accepted procedures.

The investigators intend to implement the concept that the development of executive functions requires the combination of healthy eating, physical activity and sleep.

The project will contribute with evidence-based to the cognitive, social and emotional development in children.

Enrollment: 300 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 12 to 42 months old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Apparently healthy (with no pre-existing conditions) children aged 12-42 months at baseline.

Exclusion criteria

• Children with disability

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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300 participants in 2 patient groups

Experimental group

Experimental group

Description:

The education and training of early childhood educators (developed by the researchers) and their intervention on children.

Treatment:

Behavioral: The education and training of early childhood educators and their intervention on children

Control group

No Intervention group

Description:

Receive the standard care.