Active Minds, Happy Kids in Preschools: centre-based intervention feasibility study to increase physical activity, and decrease sedentary behaviour and screen time in preschool children

Active minds, happy kids is a centre-based a intervention feasibility study which aims to increase physical activity, decrease sedentary behaviour, and decrease screen time. It is a 10 week pre- and post-intervention feasibility study to develop, implement and evaluate centre-based behaviour change strategies. Four preschools and/or childcare centres (hereafter collectively referred to as centres), and five families per centre, will be recruited. Strategies align with the ecological model, targeting individual, social and physical environment characteristics. All strategies will be implemented into existing curriculum (e.g. replacing sedentary story time with active story time) and are designed to be simple to deliver. Teachers will be provided a 30-60 minutes, in-house training session by experienced research staff (all teachers at each centre will be trained at the same time if available; training will be tailored to meet teacher and centre needs). Some of the strategies will include removing chairs from tables to create standing stations, active rather than passive story time, energy breaks, etc. They will also be provided an online education module (which teachers can access at their leisure) covering topics relevant to preschooler’s physical activity and sedentary behaviour. In 2015, Hinkley discussed proposed strategies with a convenience sample of teachers who commented on acceptability; strategies have been modified as necessary. All training will take place prior to implementation of the intervention. Teachers will be provided with on-going support by researchers throughout implementation, by request through phone call, email, and/or speak to the teachers in person if needed. Research staff will contact centre staff at least fortnightly throughout implementation of the program to provide an opportunity for question and support. Centres will also be provided with equipment to support physical activity to the value of $200. A small alarm clock will be provided to each centre to facilitate implementation of the energy breaks (2-3 mins of activity after every 30 mins of indoor time). To assess intervention adherence, teachers will complete a log of centre activities undertaken (e.g. energy breaks, active story time) throughout the intervention period.