Physical Activity and Screen-Time Regulations in Childcare Centers - Aim 1

Completed

Brief Summary: The goal of this project is to examine the physical activity and screen-time environment of licensed childcare centers before and after the enactment of new state regulations.

Detailed Description: Pause and Play will take a prospective observational epidemiological approach before and after enactment of new regulations. 10 childcare centers licensed in East Baton Rouge Parish will be randomly selected and standardized behavioral observation scales will be used to objectively quantify the physical activity and screen-time environment of the centers and the children's behaviors both in and outside the center. These assessments will be collected twice during the 2-year grant period to capture potential changes after the policies are implemented.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

Licensed by DOE as a Class A or Class B childcare center
Located in East Baton Rouge Parish
Current childcare enrollment of at least 18 children between the ages of 3-4 years

Exclusion Criteria

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation (EPAO) Score and EPAO Subscales.	1 year	The EPAO instrument will be used, which is a comprehensive, day-long observation that objectively defines the nutrition and physical activity environmental characteristics of child care centers. To address the specific aim, only the EPAO variables related to physical activity and screen-time will be included in the assessment. Means, standard deviations, and Pearson correlations will be calculated to describe the sample and examine relationships among the environment subscales at baseline and follow-up. Differences in center characteristics (i.e. racial distribution) will be tested using t-tests and chi-square tests. Repeated measures analysis of covariance (ANCOVAs) will be used to examine change in the EPAO score overall. Higher scores indicate higher compliance with best practices.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Changes in Practice-based Survey Items Based on Childcare Director Responses.	1 Year	A survey will be administered to the director of each childcare center to determine the following: awareness of the new policy; structured programs and/or field trips that allow children to be physically active (including number of times per day or week); if one or more community organizations support or provide physical activity programs at the center; whether or not the childcare center has policies regarding television viewing and computer use; amount of time allowed for free play; and amount of time spent outside.