Preschoolers Active at Child Care (PACT) (PACT)

Preschoolers Active at Child Care

The aim of this study was to develop, test, and compare two approaches to increasing physical activity (PA) and decreasing sedentary time among young children at child care centers, one which focused on a teacher-led PA curriculum (AP=Active Play!) and the other on increasing outdoor free play time (OP=Outdoor Play!).

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Physical Activity
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Active Play (AP); Behavioral: Outdoor Play (OP)

Detailed Description

This was a matched pair cluster-randomized study in 10 child care centers. One classroom in each pair received either AP or OP, and their providers received a condition-specific 3-hour workshop. Pre- and post-intervention data were collected from classroom observation and accelerometers. Additional information about teachers' attitudes and practices was collected via pre-intervention survey.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 131
• Phase: Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 3 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Teachers/Staff
• be a teacher/staff member in a participating childcare center
• Students
• be 3 - 5 years old
• be a full day student in the classroom where data collection was occurring

Exclusion Criteria:

-

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Active Play (AP); This arm received the Active Play curriculum intervention (described in following section).	Behavioral: Active Play (AP); This intervention focused on promoting PA in preschoolers through structured, teacher-led activities that could be incorporated into daily curriculum. Teachers attended a 3-hour workshop that included presentation and discussion of 1) the importance of daily physical activity for children's health and development, 2) teachers' beliefs and barriers to promoting PA, and 3) the Active Play! Intervention materials. Teachers were introduced to and given the Active Play! Fun Physical Activities for Young Children Book and Digital Video Disk (DVD), which promotes PA and fundamental movement skills in young children. Clips of the DVD demonstrating various activities were shown and activities were modeled. Examples of activities include jumping on bubble wrap, hula hoop limbo and an indoor obstacle course. The end of the book has a suggested curriculum that teachers could follow. Centers in the Active Play! intervention also received a set of portable toys needed for the suggested activities.
Experimental: Outdoor Play (OP); This arm received the Outdoor Play curriculum intervention (described in following section).	Behavioral: Outdoor Play (OP); This intervention focused on promoting outdoor time in preschoolers as a means to increasing their PA, using both child initiated and teacher-led activities. The training and materials were designed to emphasize the teacher's own connection with nature, the benefits of outdoor time for children and adults, and problem solving around barriers encountered. Teachers at participating centers attended one 3-hour workshop (delivered at the childcare center) that focused on having participants recognize their own connection with the natural world and how to transmit that to the next generation. Teachers were given hats and gloves for themselves, a set of rain jackets and boots for the preschoolers, and ideas on what children could do outdoors to be active.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Pre to post change in preschoolers Physical Activity	Physical Activity levels measured by actigraphy monitors	baseline and 12 weeks after intervention
Pre to post change in Physical Activity Opportunities	Minutes where students could be physically active by observation (RA observed and wrote down times for when children were engaged in various activities and categorized them as active play opportunities or non active play opportunities. Total minutes in each category were calculated.	baseline and 12 weeks after intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
pre to post Teacher Physical Activity	Physical Activity levels measured by actigraphy monitors	baseline and 12 weeks after intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Seattle Children's Hospital
• Collaborators: American Heart Association
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Pooja Tandon, MD MPH, Seattle Chidlren's

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): December 4, 2012
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 24, 2014
• Study Completion (Actual): April 24, 2014

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 20, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 21, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): November 23, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 26, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 21, 2018
• Last Verified: November 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 14169 (Other Identifier: City of Hope Medical Center)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No