Project Play: Preschool Lessons for Active Youngsters

Abstract

PURPOSE: To test efficacy of a newly developed physical activity promotion curriculum on motor skill development and levels of PA during time spent at an early childhood center. METHODS: Thirty eight preschool-aged children (3-5 yrs) enrolled in a Midwest childhood development center participated in the study. Half (n=19) of the children were randomly assigned to a 12 week physical activity program conducted 4 days per week by a master teacher in three morning classes of no more than 8 students per class. PA levels were assessed using MTI Actigraphs during the time spent at the center for at least three days in one week prior to and after the intervention. Minutes of Moderate and Vigorous PA were determined using 400 and 700 cts per 15s epoch respectively. Motor skills were assessed using the Test of Gross Motor Development - 2. Locomotor, object control, standard scores and Gross Motor Quotient were determined pre- and post-intervention in all subjects. Group and Test comparisons were made using a twoway ANOVA with repeated measures. RESULTS: 34 children (18 treatment, 16 control) completed the study. Due to lack of sufficient data only 23 children were included in the pre-post PA comparisons. There was a significant interaction between group (treatment vs. control) and time (pre-post) for minutes of MVPA (F = 5.424 (1, 21), p = 0.03) and VPA (F = 6.372 (1, 21), p = 0.02). In the intervention group (n=12), mean (SD) MVPA increased 51.7 (23.7) to 59.8 (18.2) minutes while the control (n=11) decreased 75.1 (20.9) to 62.7 (21.3) minutes. Mean (SD) VPA increased 23.7 (12.1) to 29.9 (12.4) and decreased 35.5 (10.0) to 29.7 (12.1) for intervention and control groups respectively. A total of 31 children (15 intervention, 16 control) completed the pre-post motor skill assessment. There were no significant interactions between group and test in locomotor, object control, or GMQ. While the raw locomotor and object control scores increase between tests (p=0.01and p=0.008), no significant effect of group nor test was evident on standard scores and GMQ. CONCLUSIONS: The physical activity program was effective in increasing PA levels on average and preventing a reduction of PA levels measured in the control. However this physical activity promotion intervention was not effective in improving the gross motor skills of the children over control.