A longitudinal study of children's outside play using family environment and perceived physical environment as predictors

Background: A natural and cheap way of increasing children's physical activity is stimulating unstructured outside play.Purpose: This study examined whether characteristics of the family and perceived physical environment were associated with the duration of children's outside play.Methods: Parents participating in the " Be Active, Eat Right" cluster RCT control group (N = 2007) provided information on potential predictors of outside play (i.e. family and perceived physical environment) of their 5-year-old child by questionnaire. Child outside play was assessed by parental reports both at five and seven years. Linear regression analyses, adjusted for seasonality, were performed to evaluate associations between potential predictors and child outside play. Linear mixed models were fitted to evaluate the relationship between potential predictors and the development of outside play over two years, with season entered as a random factor.Results: Family environment was the strongest construct predicting child outside play, while parent perceived physical environment had no significant association with child outside play. Parental habit strength and the presence of rules were the strongest predictors of increased outside play. Parent perceived difficulty in improving child outside play was the strongest predictor of decreased outside play.Conclusion: Family environment predicted child outside play and not perceived physical environment. Parental rules and habit strength regarding improving outside play were associated with an improvement of child's engagement in outside play

Primary prevention of overweight in preschool children, the BeeBOFT study (breastfeeding, breakfast daily, outside playing, few sweet drinks, less TV viewing): Design of a cluster randomized controlled trial

Background: Two overweight prevention interventions were developed to be offered by preventive Youth Health Care (YHC) in addition to the currently applied overweight prevention protocol to parents of 0-3 year old children. The two interventions aim to support parents of preschool children to realize healthy child nutrition and activity behaviors of their young child. The aim of this study is to assess the effects of the two overweight prevention interventions with regard to child health behaviors and child Body Mass Index. Methods/Design. A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted among parents and their preschool children who attend one of 51 participating YHC teams. The teams were randomly allocated to one of the two intervention groups, or to the control group (care as usual).The 'BBOFT+' intervention focuses on effective child rearing by parents from birth onwards by enlarging parental skills concerning healthy behavioural life-style habits. Parents who are allocated to the 'E-health4Uth Healthy toddler' intervention group, at the child age of circa 18 and 24 months old, are invited to complete an online E-health module providing tailored health education regarding healthy child nutrition and activity behaviors. The E-health messages are discussed and reinforced during the subsequent regularly scheduled visits by YHC professionals, and were repeated after 4 weeks.The primary outcome measures at child age 3 years are: overweight inducing/reducing behaviors, (for 'BBOFT+' only) healthy sleep, Body Mass Index and prevalence of overweight and obesity. Secondary outcome measures are attitudes and other cognitive characteristics of the parents regarding the overweight-related behaviors of their child, parenting styles and practices, and health-related quality of life of the children. Discussion. We hypothesize that the use of the additional interventions will result in a healthier lifestyle of preschool children and an improved BMI and less development of overweight and obesity compared to usual care. Trial registration. Nederlands Trial Register NTR1831

El entrenamiento integrado en edades tempranas

La característica principal de los alumnos en edades tempranas es su carácter notablemente activo, lo que nos lleva a los adultos formadores en la educación física y/o deportiva del niño que el trabajo que se presente, de entrenamiento o de formación física, sea llevadera, variada y atractiva pues la demanda de atención para que sea efectivo el trabajo físico es de gran magnitud. Este entrenamiento nos aportará la ventaja de acercarnos con la mayor similitud posible a la realidad. Durante el aprendizaje el proceso de transferencia entre habilidades e iniciación deportiva será más eficaz. También, la mejora y percepción global de las situaciones lúdicas de entre compañeros dará respuestas reales a situaciones reales en el mismo momento. También economizamos tiempo de cara a grupos numerosos, tocando en menos tiempo más aspectos de interés general. A nivel socio-afectivo es fácil vislumbrar que la relación entre participantes va aportar una gran riqueza no tan sola deportiva sino también humana y personal. Por todo ello he aquí la siguiente exposición de la importancia del entrenamiento con aspectos integrados en el deporte a edades tempranas de nuestros alumnos y/o jugadores.The main characteristic of the students in early ages is its notably active character, what takes us to the mature formations in the boy’s physical and sport education that the work that is presented, of training or of physical formation, be bearable, varied and attractive because the demand of attention so that it is effective the physical work is of great magnitude. This training will contribute us the advantage of coming closer with the biggest similarity possible to the reality. During the learning the transfer process between abilities and sport initiation will be more effective. Also, the improvement and global perception of the games situations of among partners he will give real answers to real situations in the same moment. We also economize time of face to numerous groups, playing in less time more aspects of general interest. At partner-affective level it is easy to glimpse that the relationship among participants goes to not contribute a great wealth so alone sport but also human and personal. For everything there is it here the following exhibition of the importance of the training with aspects integrated in the sport to our students’ early ages and players.Facultad de Educación y Humanidades - Campus de Melilla (Universidad de Granada

Critical Hours and Important Environments: Relationships between Afterschool Physical Activity and the Physical Environment Using GPS, GIS and Accelerometers in 10–12-Year-Old Children

Introduction: The objective of this study was to assess relationships between children’s physical environment and afterschool leisure time physical activity (PA) and active transport. Methods: Children aged 10–12 years participated in a 7-day accelerometer and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) protocol. Afterschool leisure time PA and active transport were identified based on location- and speed-algorithms based on accelerometer, GPS and Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) data. We operationalized children’s exposure to the environment by combining home, school and the daily transport environment in individualized daily activity-spaces. Results: In total, 255 children from 20 Dutch primary schools from suburban areas provided valid data. This study showed that greenspaces and smaller distances from the children’s home to school were associated with afterschool leisure time PA and walking. Greater distances between home and school, as well as pedestrian infrastructure were associated with increased cycling. Conclusion: We demonstrated associations between environments and afterschool PA within several behavioral contexts. Future studies are encouraged to target specific behavioral domains and to develop natural experiments based on interactions between several types of the environment, child characteristics and potential socio-cognitive processes

Van PO naar VO: wat verandert er in het beweeggedrag van leerlingen en waar vindt de verandering plaats?

Naarmate leerlingen ouder worden, lijkt de fysieke activiteit van leerlingen af te nemen. Dit terwijl het aantal gereguleerde uren lichamelijke opvoeding toeneemt in het voortgezet onderwijs (VO) ten opzichte van het primair onderwijs (PO). De veranderde omgeving waaraan VO-leerlingen worden blootgesteld lijkt een belangrijke factor in de verklaring van de teruggang. Hoe dit precies zit, is tot op heden echter weinig over bekend. Inzicht krijgen in hoe en waar deze teruggang lijkt plaats te vinden, helpt daarom om het probleem gericht(er) te kunnen aanpakken en om LO’ers beter in staat te stellen hierin een belangrijke bijdrage aan te leveren

Critical Hours and Important Environments:Relationships between Afterschool Physical Activity and the Physical Environment Using GPS, GIS and Accelerometers in 10-12-Year-Old Children

Introduction: The objective of this study was to assess relationships between children’s physical environment and afterschool leisure time physical activity (PA) and active transport. Methods: Children aged 10–12 years participated in a 7-day accelerometer and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) protocol. Afterschool leisure time PA and active transport were identified based on location-and speed-algorithms based on accelerometer, GPS and Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) data. We operationalized children’s exposure to the environment by combining home, school and the daily transport environment in individualized daily activity-spaces. Results: In total, 255 children from 20 Dutch primary schools from suburban areas provided valid data. This study showed that greenspaces and smaller distances from the children’s home to school were associated with afterschool leisure time PA and walking. Greater distances between home and school, as well as pedestrian infrastructure were associated with increased cycling. Conclusion: We demonstrated associations between environments and afterschool PA within several behavioral contexts. Future studies are encouraged to target specific behavioral domains and to develop natural experiments based on interactions between several types of the environment, child characteristics and potential socio-cognitive processes

TARGETing secondary school students' motivation towards physical education: The role of student-perceived mastery climate teaching strategies

The aim of the present study was to explore the impact of TARGET-based teaching strategies on students' motivation in a Dutch secondary school PE context. We examined to what extent mastery climate teaching strategies perceived by students (independently or interactively) explain variability in students' motivation towards PE. In total 3,150 students (48.2% girls; 51.8% boys) with a mean age of 13.91 years (SD = 1.40) completed the Behavioural Regulations in Physical Education Questionnaire (BRPEQ), measuring students' autonomous motivation, controlled motivation and amotivation, and the Mastery Teaching Perception Questionnaire (MTP-Q), measuring student-perceived application of mastery TARGET teaching strategies. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that after controlling for gender, age, and educational type, the predictive effects of the perceived mastery climate teaching strategies differed by motivational outcome. Overall, students who reported higher levels of perceived application of mastery TARGET teaching strategies showed more autonomous motivation and less amotivation. Specifically, the teaching strategies within the task structure were the strongest predictors for students' autonomous motivation and amotivation. No meaningful statistically significant two-way interaction effects between any of the TARGET variables were found, supporting the proposition of an additive relationship between the TARGET teaching strategies

Longitudinal perspectives on children's physical activity patterns: “Do physical education-related factors matter?”

Background: This study examined longitudinal associations of motor competence (MC) and physical activity (PA) enjoyment with moderate to vigorous PA and sedentary behavior among boys and girls aged 10-12 years old. In addition, this study explored the predictive strength of satisfaction of basic psychological needs in physical education (PE) and PA enjoyment. Methods: At 3 time points (baseline, +1 y, and +2 y), PA levels, MC, PA enjoyment, satisfaction of basic psychological needs in PE and height and weight of 371 children were measured. Data were analyzed using repeated-measures linear mixed model analyses stratified for gender and adjusted for relevant covariates. Results: Sedentary behavior decreased over time and was significantly predicted by PA enjoyment in boys and by PA enjoyment and MC in girls. Boys' moderate to vigorous PA decreased over time and was predicted by MC, whereas girls' moderate to vigorous PA remained low, yet stable over time and was predicted by PA enjoyment and MC. Furthermore, children's need for competence and teacher relatedness (girls only) during PE significantly predicted PA enjoyment. Conclusions: Children need sufficient and well-designed opportunities to improve their MC and PA enjoyment. PE may be pivotal in advancing PA enjoyment, indicating that PE could have more beneficial effects on PA levels in children, especially in girls