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Completed

NCT Number: NCT05359536

Training Early Childhood Educators to Increase Children's Physical Activity: The TEACH-Preschooler Study

This study aims to determine the effect of delivering a physical activity e-learning course to early childhood educators on young children's physical activity and sedentary behaviour while at childcare. It is hypothesized that levels of physical activity will increase and levels of sedentary behaviours will decrease during time spent in childcare in a sample of children who attend early childcare centres where early childhood educators have completed the physical activity e-learning course compared to children in centres where early childhood educators are randomized to not receive the intervention. Differences in changes in several secondary outcomes including fundamental movement skills, parent's perceptions of children's fundamental movement skills, children's cognitive development, emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems and prosocial behaviours will also be examined.

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Key information

Conditions

Physical Activity Behavior Motor Activity

Age range

30 month–60 month

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Child Health and Physical Activity Lab

London, Ontario, Canada

About this study

In this cluster randomized controlled trials, early childhood educators from childcare centres in London, Ontario, Canada will be randomized to complete a 4 module e-learning course with content on physical activity and sedentary guidelines, physical activity and sedentary behaviours in the childcare environment, how to promote physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviours in young children, and a resource library, or to continue with their usual practices. Early childhood educators randomized to the intervention group will be asked to complete this course over a 2-week intervention period.

In both the intervention and control groups, preschoolers physical activity and sedentary behaviours will be measured at baseline, post-intervention (2-weeks) and 3-months follow-up using Actigraph GT3X+ accelerometers. Preschoolers will also complete tasks at baseline and 3-month follow-up to measure their cognitive development, and a subgroup of randomly selected children from each group will complete the Tests of Gross Motor Development - Third Edition to assess their fundamental movement skill proficiency at baseline and follow-up. Parents of children in both groups will complete a questionnaire to measure their perception of their children's proficiency at fundamental movement skills. Parents will also be asked to report on their child's emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems and prosocial behaviours by completing the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

Childcare Centres:

  • Located in London, ON, Canada
  • Have at least 1 preschool classroom
  • Open every weekday
  • Operate for at least 8 hours on weekdays
  • All early childhood educators are willing to participate in the study
  • Staff are English speaking

Early Childhood Educators:

  • Employed at a participating childcare centre
  • English speaking

Children:

  • Enrolled at a participating childcare centre
  • Between the ages 2.5-5 years at baseline
  • Are expected to remain at the childcare centre for the duration of the study period

Exclusion criteria

Childcare Centres:

  • Not located in London, ON, Canada
  • Do not have at least 1 preschool classroom
  • Not open every weekday
  • Do not operate for at least 8 hours on weekdays
  • Not all early childhood educators are willing to participate in the study
  • Staff do not speak English

Early Childhood Educators:

  • Not employed at a participating childcare centre
  • Do not speak English

Children:

  • Not enrolled at a participating childcare centre
  • Not between the ages 2.5-5 years at baseline
  • Not expected to remain at the childcare centre for the duration of the study period

Treatment and study plan

Training Early Childhood educators in PA

Behavioral

The four module e-learning course was developed using the Delphi technique and covers physical activity and sedentary guidelines, physical activity and sedentary behaviours in the childcare environment, how to promote physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviours in young children, and a resource library.

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in children's device measured moderate-to-vigorous physical activity while at childcare measured

    Time frame: Baseline, post-intervention (2-weeks), and 3-months follow-up

    Assessed using ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometers worn on each child's right hip for 5 consecutive days (Monday-Friday) while at childcare. Age-specific validated accelerometer cut-points will be used to calculate time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (i.e. >420 counts/15-second epoch). Children will be considered to have valid accelerometer data if they have at least 5 hours of accelerometer data on 2 days. Accelerometer non-wear time will be identified as any period with 20 consecutive minutes of zero counts.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in children's device sedentary behaviours while at childcare

    Time frame: Baseline, post-intervention (2-weeks), and 3-months follow-up

    Assessed using ActiGraph wGT3X-BT accelerometers worn on each child's right hip for 5 consecutive days (Monday-Friday) while at childcare. Age-specific validated accelerometer cut-points will be used to calculate time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (i.e. <48 counts/15-second epoch). Children will be considered to have valid accelerometer data if they have at least 5 hours of accelerometer data on 2 days. Accelerometer non-wear time will be identified as any period with 20 consecutive minutes of zero counts.

  2. Change in children's fundamental movement skills

    Time frame: Baseline and 3-months follow-up

    Assessed in a sub-sample of randomly selected children using the Test of Gross Motor Development - Third Edition. Test of Gross Motor Development - Third Edition tests six locomotor skills (run, gallop, hop, skip, jump, and slide) and 7 object control skills (two handed strike, forehand strike, dribble, catch, kick, overhand throw, and underhand throw). Each skill was assessed and scored twice on between 3-5 performance criteria where a child was given a 1 if the skill is performed correctly and a 0 if performed incorrectly. A total score between 0-100 is calculated with a higher score indicating a better outcome.

  3. Change in parent's perceptions of fundamental movement skill proficiency

    Time frame: Baseline and 3-months follow-up

    Parents of children will be asked to report their perceptions of their child's fundamental movement skills. The self-reported scale will measure the same 13 fundamental movement skills measured in the Test of Gross Motor Development - Third Edition. The will rate their Childs proficiency for each skill on a scale from 1 = not that good, 2 = sort of good, 3 = pretty good and 4 = really good. Eah skill is presented with a picture of the skill being performed. The range of possible scores for this scale are 13-52, with higher scores indicating a better outcome.

  4. Changes in scores on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

    Time frame: Baseline and 3-months follow-up

    Parents will report on their child's emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems and prosocial behaviours. Each item is scored on a scale from 0 =not true, 1 =somewhat true, and 2 = certainly true, with positively worded questions being reversed scored for the emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, and peers relationship problem subscales. Higher scores on these four subscales indicates a worse outcome, while a higher score on the emotional symptoms subscale indicates a better outcome. Each subscale is scored on a scale from 0-10.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Western University, Canada

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Impact of an Early Childhood Educator e-Learning Course in Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour on Young Children's Movement Behaviours in Childcare: The TEACH-Preschooler Study

Important dates

Study start
2022
Primary completion
2023
Study completion
2023
First posted
May 4, 2022
Registry last updated
Mar 20, 2024

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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