Daily Physical Activity and Nutrition Patterns
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Transcript Daily Physical Activity and Nutrition Patterns
An Exploratory Study of Daily Physical
Activity and Nutrition Patterns in
Early Learning Settings
Institute for Child Success Research Symposium
October 17, 2014
Columbia, South Carolina
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Sedentary Routines in Early Learning Settings
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INVESTIGATORS
DOLORES STEGELIN, PH. D.
PROFESSOR
CLEMSON UNIVERSITY
IN COLLABORATION WITH
JENNIFER WAGNER, ABD
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
SOUTHERN WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY
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Audience Participation
What is your professional role?
Have you considered your own level of
physical activity as a young child and in early
learning settings?
What opportunities do you have to observe
young learners in various settings?
Do you have a hypothesis or hunch about the
level of Physical Activity that most young
children engage in the typical U. S. settings?
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Overview of the
Research Project
College of Health, Education and Human
Development Research Seed Grant
Goals of Main Research Project
Listen to the voices of 4-7 year olds about their
nutrition and physical activity preferences and routines
Gather systematic data on early learning environments
related to nutrition and physical activity
Complete in-depth observations on a subsample of 4-7
year olds to document daily routines in early learning
settings related to nutrition and physical activity
routines.
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Population
*4-7 year olds in Head Start, 4K, primary and
after
school classrooms
*Parents of the children
*Teachers and directors of the programs
*Focus on low-SES, Hispanic & African American
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Hypothesis
Children in typical early learning settings
(Head Start, after-school, public school)
will have healthy routines that engage
them in high levels of physical activity
both indoors and outdoors.
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Pilot study and types of data
gathered
Interviewed children and parents
Observed and gathered data on settings: health
and educational measures
Completed in-depth observations on subset of
children
This presentation focuses only on the
subset study: snapshots of physical activity
in varied learning settings
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Description of the
Observational Study
Checklist was developed and utilized to
look at:
◦ Outdoor and indoor contexts for large motor
physical activities
◦ Observed in 30-minute blocks of time for
approximately 6.5 hours
◦ Anecdotal notes recorded of behaviors observed
At conclusion of each 30-minute block, behaviors
observed on qualitative measure were recorded
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Participants-Subset
One Latino student (male age 5) in Head
Start
Twp African American students (male age 6,
female age 7) in after-school settings
One Latino male student age 8 in elementary
school setting
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Outdoor Contexts for
Large Motor Activities
◦ Most of the activities engaged in were initiated by
the child, not teacher directed
◦ Students in Head Start spent more time
outside than students in other settings
◦ Activities included, in an unstructured, game-free
environment:
Chasing
Climbing
Crawling
Hopping
Running
Sliding down the slide
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Indoor Contexts for
Motor Activities
The only activity that all four students experienced
was the inclusion of music (separate music class,
singing/dancing, exercising)
Other activities observed indoors included:
◦ Drawing (3 out of 4)
◦ Gross motor (i.e. shooting a basketball - after-school
program)
◦ Reading books (3 out of 4)
◦ Socio-dramatic play (Head Start, elementary school)
◦ Working with manipulatives (3 out of 4)
◦ Writing (3 out of 4)
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MethodQualitative Analysis
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Detailed notes based on observation of 4
children (running records with a rating
scale every 30 minutes)
Children were observed for the entire day
or length of the daily program.
3 researchers independently analyzed and
coded the data
Codes were compared for inter-rater
reliability
Overarching themes developed based on
agreed upon codes
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Two Overarching Themes
I. Physical
Movement
Unstructured play
Structured play
Fidgeting
II. Restriction
of Activity
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Restriction of Activity
Strict
schedule
Physical
activity not built into
educational requirements
Waiting
(for the next planned
activity)
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Results of the
Quantitative Analysis
Data suggest that the percentage of time
students in the 4K and after-school
program have to engage in teacher
initiated direct physical activities is
greater when compared to students in a
typical elementary school setting
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Results of the
Quantitative Analysis……..
Data further suggest that the percentage of
time students in an after-school program
have to engage in child initiated direct
physical activities is greater when compared to
students in more structured settings, like Head
Start 4K or elementary schools
The student observed in a traditional
elementary school was not observed
participating in any direct physical activity while
indoors
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Indoor Teacher Initiated Direct
Physical Activity
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Indoor Child Initiated Direct
Physical Activity
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Recommendations
Increased opportunity for PA at school and
Head Start
◦ Leads to increased cognitive
function/academic achievement (Davis et al.,
2011; Tomporowski, Davis, Miller, & Naglieri,
2008)
“Action Schools” (Naylor, Macdonald, Zebedee,
Reed, & Mackay, 2006)
Create individualized plans for increasing physical
activity at schools
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Recommendations
“Action
Schools”
◦ Focus on 6 Action Zones (Naylor et al., 2006, p.
414)
School environment
Scheduled PE
Classroom action
Family and Community
Extra-curricular
School spirit
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Recommendations…..
Empirical support for efficacy of action
school program (Naylor et al., 2006; Reed,
Warburton, Macdonald, Naylor, & McKay,
2008)
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Recommendations
Build physical movement into lessons
◦ e.g., allow movement/dancing during music
class
Examine amount of unintended downtime
◦ e.g., time waiting between activities
◦ Leverage this time to build in extra physical
activity opportunities
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Summary & Question
Answer Session
Exploratory
Study
Limitations
Need
for large-scale studies of daily
routines
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Implications
Professional
Development needed on
integration of physical activity
School
leadership needs to recognize
the importance of PA in classrooms
and scheduling
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Specific Needs for Learning
Environments
Curriculum development needed that
embeds more PA for children of all ages
More embedded recess, physical activity and
play
Integrate nutrition and health concepts
throughout the curriculum
Engage parents in the planning and
curriculum and encourage PA for families
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