TITLE:
Evaluation of a teacher-led physical activity curriculum to increase preschooler physical activity
AUTHORS:
Margaret Dunn-Carver, Lizzy Pope, Gregory Dana, Anne Dorwaldt, Brian Flynn, Janice Bunn, Jean Harvey-Berino
KEYWORDS:
Component; Formatting; Style; Styling
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Preventive Medicine,
Vol.3 No.1,
February
27,
2013
ABSTRACT: Preschool students are generally sedentary at school, and few interventions have addressed whether teacher-led activities can increase physical activity at preschools. The current study aimed to increase physical activity in preschool children enrolled in childcare centers by training childcare providers to deliver a physical activity curriculum. A within-group pre-test/post-test design was used including 32 children at 4 preschools. A teacher-led physical activity curriculum, the Coordinated Approach to Child Health Early Childhood Education Curriculum (CEC) was implemented in each childcare center for six weeks. Activity levels of participants were monitored through the use of accelerometers and direct observation for approximately five hours pre- and post-intervention. Time spent in moderate/vigorous physical activity in preschoolers in three of the four preschools suggested a positive trend increasing from 34.5% ± 13.2% baseline to 39.3% ± 15.4% at follow-up (p = 0.10). Teachers from all four centers reported spending 24.6 ± 13.0 minutes per activity session with up to two activity sessions completed per day. These results justify larger trials to determine the impact of a teacher-led physical activity curriculum on the intensity and duration of preschool students’ physical activity at school.