Move ARound And Get Active: an Intervention to Optimize 24-hour Movement Behaviours in Preschoolers

In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) established new guidelines for physical activity, sedentary screen behavior, and sleep in children under 5 years old (WHO, 2019). Unfortunately, only a few (6%) preschoolers in Flanders, Belgium, adhere to these guidelines (De Craemer et al., 2018). The objective of this study is to test a health program developed to optimize 24-hour behaviors in preschoolers and encourage more children to adhere to the guidelines. The program was developed using the Intervention Mapping Protocol, in collaboration with parents (Bartholomew, 2011). The program consists of seven sessions for parents and preschoolers, providing strategies to encourage adherence to the guidelines through parenting skills within the framework of self-determination theory (Di Pasquale et al., 2018). The program will be evaluated through a randomized controlled trial. The intervention group will attend the sessions, while the control group will receive the intervention materials at the end of the study.

Aims:

The primary aim is to analyze the intervention effect on 24-hour movement behaviors:

1. Do more preschoolers comply with the World Health Organization 24-hour movement behavior guidelines?
2. Is there an optimal change in the 24-hour composition of preschoolers (i.e., more physical activity, less screen time, and/or more sufficient sleep relative to each other)?

The secondary aims are: 3. To analyze the intervention effect on parenting within the self-determination theory: Do parents provide more structure, autonomy support, and positive involvement? 4. Process evaluation of the intervention: Describing fidelity, dose delivered, dose received, reach, and context based on Saunders et al. (2005).