Young Children's Screen Time and Physical Activity: Perspectives of Parents and Early Care and Education Center Providers

Elizabeth D Joseph, Chelsea L Kracht, Jessica St Romain, Andrew T Allen, Caroline Barbaree, Corby K Martin, Amanda E Staiano, Elizabeth D Joseph, Chelsea L Kracht, Jessica St Romain, Andrew T Allen, Caroline Barbaree, Corby K Martin, Amanda E Staiano

Abstract

Early care and education (ECE) providers and parents can facilitate physical activity (PA) and reduce screen time in preschoolers. Input from caregivers on barriers and facilitators of PA and screen time is needed to comprehensively address these behaviors and promote children's health. Four focus groups (3 parent and 1 ECE provider) were conducted. Thematic analysis was performed to identify themes and subthemes. Twenty-eight caregivers (21 parents and 7 ECE providers) participated. Caregivers reported responsibility for modeling and shaping children's PA and screen time. Parents felt that a busy lifestyle was a PA barrier and encouraged screen time. ECE providers were concerned about certain environmental influences on PA. The groups differed in their view of screen time as either entertainment (parents) or educational (providers). Both types of caregivers were unaware of PA or screen time guidelines. Investigation into opportunities to utilize screen time to serve priorities of both caregivers and promote child PA are needed.

Keywords: child care; community-based participatory research; focus groups; pediatrics; pre-school.

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Source: PubMed

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