Prevalence and Relationships among Physical Activity Policy, Environment, and Practices in Licensed Childcare Centers from a Manager and Staff Perspective

Jennifer McConnell-Nzunga, Louise C. Mâsse, E. Jean Buckler, Valerie Carson, Guy E. Faulkner, Erica Y. Lau, Heather A. McKay, Viviene A. Temple, Luke Wolfenden and Patti-Jean Naylor
Additional contact information
Jennifer McConnell-Nzunga: Child Health BC, 4088 Cambie St #305, Vancouver, BC V5Z 2X8, Canada
Louise C. Mâsse: School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, 2329 West Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
E. Jean Buckler: School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, 2329 West Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
Valerie Carson: Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation, 3-100 University Hall, Van Vliet Complex, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H9, Canada
Guy E. Faulkner: School of Kinesiology, University of British Columbia, 6081 University Boulevard, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada
Erica Y. Lau: Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 5950 University Boulevard, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
Heather A. McKay: Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 5950 University Boulevard, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
Viviene A. Temple: School of Exercise Science, Physical and Health Education, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC, V8P 5C2, Canada
Luke Wolfenden: School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
Patti-Jean Naylor: School of Exercise Science, Physical and Health Education, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC, V8P 5C2, Canada

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 3, 1-14

Abstract: Physical activity (PA) is critical to early childhood health and development, and childcare is a key setting for establishing physically active play. In British Columbia (BC), a provincial standard for active play in childcare was enacted, identified here as the Active Play (AP) standard. Pragmatic constraints limit real-world data collection for evaluating policy impact. We explored whether information about policies, practices, and the environment varied when it was collected from managers or staff. Surveys were distributed to BC childcare centers before AP standard enactment to ascertain current PA and fundamental movement skill policies and practices. The full sample ( n = 1037 from 625 facilities) and a subsample of paired managers and staff ( n = 261 centers) were used to explore agreement across managers and staff in reported prevalence and relationships among indicators. The policy prevalence and relationships for active play and outdoor play variables were relatively similar for manager and staff data, although the matched data had modest agreement and less than optimal intraclass correlations. The prevalence of manager-reported PA policies ranged from 47% for screen-time limits to 77% for fundamental movement skill activities. The manager and staff data highlighted indoor and outdoor space as a primary factor in AP standard adherence. With reliance on sampling staff unfeasible, it appears that the manager data may adequately describe the policies and practices of childcare providers with some notable issues.

Keywords: physical activity; fundamental movement skills; physical literacy; childcare; early childhood educators; policy; practice; licensing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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