Abstract
BackgroundWithin the childcare sector, physical activity and sedentary behaviors are not legislated at a national level in Canada. Efforts have been undertaken to identify factors within childcare facilities which support and deter physical activity and sedentary behaviors. The purpose of this paper was to provide an amended review of the legislative landscape, at the provincial and territorial level, regarding physical activity and sedentary behaviors (via screen-viewing) in Canadian childcare centers.MethodsIndividual childcare acts and regulations for each province and territory were collected; documents were reviewed with a focus on sections devoted to child health, physical activity, screen time, play, and outdoor time. An extraction table was used to facilitate systematic data retrieval and comparisons across provinces and territories.ResultsOf the 13 provinces and territories, 8 (62%) have updated their childcare regulations in the past 5 years. All provinces provide general recommendations to afford gross motor movement; but the majority give no specific requirements for how much or at what intensity. Only 3 provinces (Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Nova Scotia) explicitly mentioned daily physical activity while all provinces’ and territories’ required daily outdoor play. Only 1 province (New Brunswick) made mention of screen-viewing.ConclusionsThe variability in childcare regulations results in different physical activity requirements across the country. By providing high-level targets for physical activity recommendations, by way of provincial/territorial legislation, staff would have a baseline from which to begin supporting more active behaviors among the children in their care. Future research is needed to support translating physical activity policies into improved activity levels among young children in childcare and the role of screen-viewing in these venues.
Highlights
Within the childcare sector, physical activity and sedentary behaviors are not legislated at a national level in Canada
Recent research purports that the childcare environment accounts for nearly 50% of the variation in young children’s physical activity levels [9, 10]; more influential than age, sex, and ethnicity
While many young children are enrolled in some form of non-parental care for Vanderloo and Tucker BMC Public Health (2018) 18:475 extended periods of time each week [11,12,13,14], coupled with the lessons they learn regarding health behaviors, the childcare environment is an ideal setting to target the activity behaviors of young children
Summary
Physical activity and sedentary behaviors are not legislated at a national level in Canada. The purpose of this paper was to provide an amended review of the legislative landscape, at the provincial and territorial level, regarding physical activity and sedentary behaviors (via screen-viewing) in Canadian childcare centers. The childcare environment has received much attention in recent years in relation to young children’s physical activity and sedentary behaviors [5,6,7,8]. Recent research purports that the childcare environment accounts for nearly 50% of the variation in young children’s physical activity levels [9, 10]; more influential than age, sex, and ethnicity. From a health promotion perspective, it is important to target children early in life to ensure healthy habits are being formed and carried throughout the lifespan in an effort to limit chronic disease and support optimal health [15]
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