Mobile Device Use Among Rural, Low-Income Families and the Feasibility of an App to Encourage Preschoolers' Physical Activity: Qualitative Study.

BackgroundAs mobile devices are becoming ubiquitous, technology-based interventions provide a promising strategy to positively influence health behaviors of families with young children. However, questions remain about the feasibility and acceptability of intervention delivery via mobile apps in low-income, rural settings and among families with preschoolers.ObjectiveThe aims of this study were to understand the content and context of mobile device use for preschoolers; explore parent beliefs on this topic, including the acceptability of intervention delivery via mobile devices; and test a prototype of an app to encourage preschoolers' physical activity with both parents and children.MethodsParents (n=29) were recruited from 5 preschool centers in eastern, rural Colorado to complete a semistructured telephone interview regarding preschoolers' mobile device use. A second sample of parents (n=31) was recruited from the same preschool centers to view the app prototype independently and provide feedback. A third sample of preschool children (n=24) was videotaped using the app in small groups to measure engagement and record their responses to the app.ResultsFive key content areas emerged from the telephone interviews: (1) mobile devices are an important part of families' everyday routines, and parents have parameters governing their use; (2) parents often use mobile devices as a tool for behavior management; (3) parents clearly distinguish between mobile device use for learning versus entertainment; (4) parents have an overarching desire for balance in regard to their child's mobile device use; and (5) parents were generally supportive of the idea of using mobile apps for intervention delivery. From the app prototype testing with parents, participants reacted positively to the app and felt that it would be useful in a variety of situations. Testing with preschoolers showed the children were highly engaged with the app and a majority remained standing and/or actively moving through the entire length of the app.ConclusionsMobile devices are already integrated into most families' daily routines and appear to be an acceptable method of intervention delivery in low-income families in rural Colorado. The physical activity app represents an innovative way to reach these families and, with further improvements based on participant feedback, will provide children with a unique opportunity to practice key movement skills

The Tasting Party Assessment: Can Educators Reliably Evaluate Preschoolers’ Willingness to Try New Foods in Group Settings?

Food neophobia, defined as an unwillingness to consume novel and unfamiliar foods is common in young children. Assessment of neophobia or willingness to try new foods can be a challenge with this audience. With the increase in nutrition interventions focused on the young child, valid and reliable measures to assess willingness to try new foods that can be administered in groups by classroom teachers and Extension educators are needed. The Food Friends: Fun with New Foods (FWNF) program aims to increase children’s willingness to try new foods in childcare settings. The Tasting Party assessment was developed as the primary tool for measuring the FWNF program’s impact. Construct and face validity were established and inter-observer reliability between two researchers and teachers was obtained. Findings indicate the Tasting Party could reliably be used by classroom teachers to accurately observe tasting behaviors in a group of preschool-aged children. This provides a low-cost, low-burden valid and reliable assessment tool, thus enhancing the scalability and reach of nutrition education programs focused on young children. The Tasting Party is adaptable for use in Extension programs such as the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed)

Social-ecological correlates of fundamental movement skills in young children

Purpose: To identify the social-ecological correlates associated with fundamental movement skills at the child, family, and environment levels in young children. Methods: Preschool children from 4 Colorado Head Start/preschool centers were recruited from 2010 to 2012. Two hundred twenty-eight children (128 girls; age = 56.08 ± 4.09 months; body mass index (BMI) z-score = 0.53 ± 1.12 (mean ± SD); 42.1% Hispanic/Latino) and 159 families were included in the final analysis. Children's perceived competence and fundamental movement skills were assessed via the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance and the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, 2nd edition. Data on the number of children in the family, parent age, BMI, education, employment status, family income, perception of child coordination, and home physical activity environment were collected via a questionnaire. Linear regressions adjusted for child BMI, age, sex, and school site were performed at each level. Results: Child perceived cognitive competence was positively associated with locomotor skills (p = 0.04; adjusted R2 = 0.035) and object-control skills (p = 0.003; adjusted R2 = 0.083) at the child level. Parent education, BMI, and perception of child coordination were positively associated with locomotor skills and explained 8.8% of variance, but only parent education was significant (p = 0.04) at the family level. In addition, physical environment was positively associated with locomotor skills (p = 0.02) and explained 5.5% of variance at the environment level. Conclusion: Social-ecological correlates associated with young children's fundamental movement skills are multidimensional and differ according to skill category at the child, family, and environment levels. Keywords: Activity environment, Fundamental movement skills, Parent education, Perceived cognitive competence, Preschool childre

Moving Together: Understanding Parent Perceptions Related to Physical Activity and Motor Skill Development in Preschool Children

Background: Establishing physical activity (PA) and motor behaviors in early childhood are important for developing healthy activity behaviors. Parents play a central role in shaping young children’s PA and fundamental motor skills (FMS). This qualitative study explored parents’ attributes, values, perceptions, and practices related to PA and FMS. Methods: Thirty-one parents (26 mothers) of preschool-aged children participated in semi-structured in-person interviews. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, coded and analyzed using an iterative approach. Results: Four themes related to PA and FMS emerged: (1) parent attributes; (2) parent–child interactions; (3) parent perception of children’s attributes; and (4) parenting practices. Although most parents enjoyed playing with their child, some did not realize the importance of engaging in PA with their child and even believed that FMS are naturally developed. Parents indicated that children’s temperament may influence their preference for practicing motor skills. Conclusions: Social support and positive parenting practices, including encouragement, monitoring, logistical support, co-participation, and facilitation, are important for the development of PA and FMS. The findings add emphasis to the importance of parents’ role in the development of young children’s PA and FMS, and they inform future strategies aiming to promote young children’s activity behaviors

Modeling relationships between activity, motor skills, and weight in preschoolers

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to use structural equation modeling (SEM) to understand the directionality of the relationship between physical activity (PA) and gross motor skills (GMS) in predicting healthy growth (body mass index, (BMI)) in preschoolers. Procedure: Baseline data from preschoolers (4-5 years old) enrolled in the Colorado Longitudinal Eating And Physical activity (LEAP) study were used. Preschoolers were assessed on GMS (balance, locomotor and ball skills) and fitness (Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, Second Edition), PA (Actical accelerometers), and perceived physical competence (The Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children, (PPC)). Measured height and weight were used to calculate preschoolers’ BMI. SEM was performed using Mplus software to test two models. Both models used the same combination of manifest variables to define six latent variables: three GMS-balance skills, locomotor skills, ball skills, PA, PPC, and fitness. Model 1 tested PA predicting the three GMS (balance, locomotor, and ball skills) and GMS predicting BMI. Model 2 tested the three GMS predicting PA and PA predicting BMI. Paths for PPC and fitness were tested in both models. All latent variables and BMI were regressed on preschooler ethnicity, age, and sex. Model fit was assessed using Chi-square and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), with p >.05 and p .05; RMSEA=.044). PA significantly, positively predicted locomotor and ball skills. Locomotor skills significantly, positively predicted fitness. Fitness did not significantly predict BMI; however, the relationship was in the expected direction (b=-0.176, p=.09). Model 2, testing three GMS predicting PA and PA predicting BMI, demonstrated acceptable fit (Chi-square(558)=824, p>.05; RMSEA=.045). Locomotor skills significantly, positively predicted PA. PA significantly, positively predicted fitness. Fitness did not significantly predict BMI; however, the relationship was in the expected direction (b=-0.132, p=.18). Implications/Future Directions: Both models showed significant pathways from locomotor skills to PA, and vice-versa, suggesting the need for additional research to examine the potential for reciprocity between PA and locomotor skills. Ball skills were not predictive of PA, likely due to preschoolers’ relatively low ball skill proficiency. Additional analyses will test individual latent variables in each model as mediators and will test direct paths from physical activity to fitness (model 1) and from physical activity to BMI (both models). Additional research is required to determine whether fitness or PA is a more appropriate predictor of health risk (BMI) in preschoolers. Longitudinal data are necessary to determine how the directionality of these relationships changes throughout child development, a next step for the Colorado LEAP study data set.College of Health and Human Sciences - Excellence in Research and Scholarship

Mobile Device Use Among Rural, Low-Income Families and the Feasibility of an App to Encourage Preschoolers' Physical Activity: Qualitative Study.

BackgroundAs mobile devices are becoming ubiquitous, technology-based interventions provide a promising strategy to positively influence health behaviors of families with young children. However, questions remain about the feasibility and acceptability of intervention delivery via mobile apps in low-income, rural settings and among families with preschoolers.ObjectiveThe aims of this study were to understand the content and context of mobile device use for preschoolers; explore parent beliefs on this topic, including the acceptability of intervention delivery via mobile devices; and test a prototype of an app to encourage preschoolers' physical activity with both parents and children.MethodsParents (n=29) were recruited from 5 preschool centers in eastern, rural Colorado to complete a semistructured telephone interview regarding preschoolers' mobile device use. A second sample of parents (n=31) was recruited from the same preschool centers to view the app prototype independently and provide feedback. A third sample of preschool children (n=24) was videotaped using the app in small groups to measure engagement and record their responses to the app.ResultsFive key content areas emerged from the telephone interviews: (1) mobile devices are an important part of families' everyday routines, and parents have parameters governing their use; (2) parents often use mobile devices as a tool for behavior management; (3) parents clearly distinguish between mobile device use for learning versus entertainment; (4) parents have an overarching desire for balance in regard to their child's mobile device use; and (5) parents were generally supportive of the idea of using mobile apps for intervention delivery. From the app prototype testing with parents, participants reacted positively to the app and felt that it would be useful in a variety of situations. Testing with preschoolers showed the children were highly engaged with the app and a majority remained standing and/or actively moving through the entire length of the app.ConclusionsMobile devices are already integrated into most families' daily routines and appear to be an acceptable method of intervention delivery in low-income families in rural Colorado. The physical activity app represents an innovative way to reach these families and, with further improvements based on participant feedback, will provide children with a unique opportunity to practice key movement skills