Preschoolers Learning & Active in Play (PLAY)

项目摘要 幼儿期的体育活动对儿童健康和发展的许多方面都很重要。 学龄前儿童被认为是非常活跃的，但以前的研究表明，他们是久坐不动的， 大部分时间，没有足够的机会参与积极发挥。专家所建议 在早期学习环境中促进体育活动的战略， 从年轻时开始积极生活。通过早期的学习环境，我们可能能够在很大程度上改变行为 儿童群体，特别是那些户外活动机会较少的弱势儿童 在家里或在他们的社区玩耍和体育活动。然而，来自家庭的有意义的参与是 同样重要的是，研究表明， 教育工作者和家长对学龄前儿童的体育活动的主题。我们建议研究使用可穿戴设备 监测儿童身体活动的技术，激励父母和教育工作者帮助创造积极的游戏 机会，并为这一重要的健康问题建立一个沟通和共同负责的平台。 行为我们将特别关注来自较低收入背景的儿童，他们在以下方面存在差异： 健康和教育成果。在为期2年的R21阶段，我们建议评估可行性， 可接受性，和潜在的有效性，6个月的学前教育为基础的，多层次的干预，以促进 使用可穿戴技术进行学龄前儿童的身体活动和逐渐强化的行为改变 加强家长和教育工作者参与的技术。在我们研究的第一种情况下，学龄前儿童和 他们的教育工作者将得到一个名为Sqord的腕戴式活动跟踪器，以监测日常活动水平。在第二 在这种情况下，我们将研究是否也给父母活动跟踪器和每周反馈报告， 自己和孩子的活动有助于促进更多的身体活动。最后，在第三个条件中，我们将添加 对幼儿教育工作者进行培训和辅导，使身体活动干预与指标保持一致 他们熟悉并从早期学习的角度进行评估。我们将使用R21的结果 为我们在3年R33阶段纳入并更严格测试的干预策略提供信息。我们的首要 感兴趣的结果是加速度计测量的身体活动。在R33中，我们还将探讨如何改变 学龄前儿童身体活动与幼儿园准备的认知和行为指标有关， 是对幼儿教育工作者、政策制定者和家长具有重要意义的主题。

PROJECT SUMMARY Physical activity in early childhood is important for numerous aspects of children's health and development. Preschoolers are thought to be very active but previous studies have shown that they are sedentary for the majority of time and not getting adequate opportunities to engage in active play. Experts have recommended strategies to promote physical activity in early learning settings and to involve parents in efforts to promote active living from a young age. Through early learning settings, we may be able to change behaviors in large groups of children and particularly benefit more vulnerable children who have fewer opportunities for outdoor play and physical activity at home or in their neighborhoods. However, meaningful engagement from families is also important and research suggests that there is gap in communication and perhaps alignment between educators and parents on the topic of preschoolers' physical activity. We propose research that uses wearable technology to monitor physical activity in children, motivate parents and educators to help create active play opportunities, and create a platform for communication and shared accountability about this important health behavior. We will focus particularly on children from lower income backgrounds who suffer from disparities in both health and educational outcomes. In the 2-year R21 phase we propose to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and potential efficacy of a 6 month preschool-based, multi-level intervention to promote preschoolers' physical activity using wearable technology and incrementally intensive behavior change techniques to enhance engagement of parents and educators. In the first condition we study, preschoolers and their educators will get wrist-worn activity trackers called Sqord to monitor daily activity levels. In the second condition, we will study whether also giving parents activity trackers and weekly feedback reports about their own and their child's activity help promote more physical activity. Finally, in the third condition, we will add on training and coaching for early childhood educators to align the physical activity intervention with the metrics they are familiar with and evaluated on from an early learning standpoint. We will use the results from the R21 to inform the intervention strategies we include and test more rigorously in the 3-year R33 phase. Our primary outcome of interest is accelerometer measured physical activity. In the R33, we will also explore how changes in preschooler's physical activity relate to cognitive and behavioral indicators of kindergarten readiness, which are topics of great significance to early childhood educators, policy makers and parents.