Role of Spanish Toddlers' Education and Care Institutions in Achieving Physical Activity Recommendations in the COVID-19 Era: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Herminia Vega-Perona,María Del Mar Bernabé-Villodre,Yolanda Cabrera García-Ochoa,Vladimir E Martínez-Bello,Daniel A Martínez-Bello,Isaac Estevan

doi:10.3390/children9010051

Herminia Vega-Perona, María Del Mar Bernabé-Villodre + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/children9010051

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Journal: Children (Basel, Switzerland)	Publication Date: Jan 3, 2022
Citations: 7	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Valencia

Abstract

To our knowledge, there are no published studies that describe the physical activity (PA) levels and objectively measure them through accelerometry in toddlers (2–3 years old) attending early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aims of this study were two-fold: (a) to analyse toddlers’ PA levels and sedentary behaviour (SB) during school hours in ECEC institutions, as well as the rate of adherence to specific recommendations on total PA (TPA) and moderate–vigorous PA (MVPA); and (b) to evaluate the characteristics correlates (age, gender, and body mass index –BMI) of young children and the school environment on toddlers’ TPA, light PA (LPA), MVPA, and SB during school hours in ECEC institutions. PA was evaluated with ActiGraph accelerometers. The main findings were that: (a) toddlers engaged in very high amounts of TPA and MVPA during ECEC hours; (b) girls and boys displayed similar levels of LPA, TPA, and SB, while girls had lower levels of MVPA, compared to boys, and younger toddlers were less active than older ones; (c) BMI was not associated with PA of any intensity or SB; (d) playground and classroom density were not associated with higher levels of PA of any intensity, though classroom density was associated with SB. These ECEC institutions provide and challenge the new COVID-19 scenario, as well as supportive environments for toddlers’ PA.

Highlights

Introduction published maps and institutional affilBetween January 2020, when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak to be a public health emergency of international concern [1]; at the time of writing (August 2021), there have been more than 200 million confirmed infections and over 4 million human deaths [2]
The average time spent in total PA (TPA) per day was 154.35 (SD 30.60) minutes, comprising a mean 111.85 ± 21.78 min of light PA (LPA) and 42.50 ± 17.50 min of moderate–vigorous PA (MVPA)
These results suggest that early childhood education and care (ECEC) school hours provide the opportunity for an important contribution to the minimum recommendation of 3 h of daily TPA (85.75%, 82.81%, and 83.33% for boys and girls, respectively)

Summary

Introduction

Introduction published maps and institutional affilBetween January 2020, when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak to be a public health emergency of international concern [1]; at the time of writing (August 2021), there have been more than 200 million confirmed infections and over 4 million human deaths [2]. To mitigate the spread and infection, governments from around the world have adopted measures to limit social contact, including stay-at-home orders [3], travel restrictions, and school closures [4]; upon reopening, both the schools and their students and families have had to adapt to a new pandemic reality [4,5]. These extraordinary arrangements have had negative social, emotional, and physical impacts on young children, including sleeping disorders, reduced physical activity (PA), and increased sedentary behaviour (SB) [6,7,8,9]. When space to play has been provided, the increased SB and decreased PA in toddlers have been attenuated [10]. iations.

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