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Effect and process evaluation of a kindergarten-based, family-involved cluster randomised controlled trial in six European countries on four- to six-year-old children's steps per day: the ToyBox-study.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:The ToyBox-intervention is a theory- and evidence-based intervention delivered in kindergartens to improve four- to six-year-old children's energy balance-related behaviours and prevent obesity. The current study aimed to (1) examine the effect of the ToyBox-intervention on increasing European four- to six-year-old children' steps per day, and (2) examine if a higher process evaluation score from teachers and parents was related to a more favourable effect on steps per day. METHODS:A sample of 2438 four- to six-year-old children (51.9% boys, mean age 4.75 ± 0.43 years) from 6 European countries (Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Poland and Spain) wore a motion sensor (pedometer or accelerometer) for a minimum of two weekdays and one weekend day both at baseline and follow-up to objectively measure their steps per day. Kindergarten teachers implemented the physical activity component of the ToyBox-intervention for 6 weeks in total, with a focus on (1) environmental changes in the classroom, (2) the child performing the actual behaviour and (3) classroom activities. Children's parents received newsletters, tip cards and posters. To assess intervention effects, multilevel repeated measures analyses were conducted for the total sample and the six intervention countries separately. In addition, process evaluation questionnaires were used to calculate a total process evaluation score (with implementation and satisfaction as a part of the overall score) for teachers and parents which was then linked with the physical activity outcomes. RESULTS:No significant intervention effects on four- to six-year-old children' steps per weekday, steps per weekend day and steps per average day were found, both in the total sample and in the country-specific samples (all p > 0.05). In general, the intervention effects on steps per day were least favourable in four- to six-year-old children with a low teachers process evaluation score and most favourable in four- to six-year-old children with a high teachers process evaluation score. No differences in intervention effects were found for a low, medium or high parents' process evaluation score. CONCLUSION:The physical activity component of the ToyBox-intervention had no overall effect on four- to six-year-old children' steps per day. However, the process evaluation scores showed that kindergarten teachers that implemented the physical activity component of the ToyBox-intervention as planned and were satisfied with the physical activity component led to favourable effects on children's steps per day. Strategies to motivate, actively involve and engage the kindergarten teachers and parents/caregivers are needed to induce larger effects.

SUBMITTER: De Craemer M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5576230 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Effect and process evaluation of a kindergarten-based, family-involved cluster randomised controlled trial in six European countries on four- to six-year-old children's steps per day: the ToyBox-study.

De Craemer Marieke M Verloigne Maïté M De Bourdeaudhuij Ilse I Androutsos Odysseas O Iotova Violeta V Moreno Luis L Koletzko Berthold B Socha Piotr P Manios Yannis Y Cardon Greet G

The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity 20170829 1

<h4>Background</h4>The ToyBox-intervention is a theory- and evidence-based intervention delivered in kindergartens to improve four- to six-year-old children's energy balance-related behaviours and prevent obesity. The current study aimed to (1) examine the effect of the ToyBox-intervention on increasing European four- to six-year-old children' steps per day, and (2) examine if a higher process evaluation score from teachers and parents was related to a more favourable effect on steps per day.<h4 ...[more]

PMID: 28851434

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Project description:BackgroundSignificant variability exists in how real-world walking has been measured in prior studies in individuals with stroke and it is unknown which measures are most important for cardiovascular risk. It is also unknown whether real-world monitoring is more informative than laboratory-based measures of walking capacity in the context of cardiovascular risk. The purpose of this study was to determine a subset of real-world walking activity measures most strongly associated with systolic blood pressure (SBP), a measure of cardiovascular risk, in people with stroke and if these measures are associated with SBP after accounting for laboratory-based measures of walking capacity.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional analysis of 276 individuals with chronic (≥ 6 months) stroke. Participants wore an activity monitor for ≥ 3 days. Measures of activity volume, activity frequency, activity intensity, and sedentary behavior were calculated. Best subset selection and lasso regression were used to determine which activity measures were most strongly associated with systolic blood pressure. Sequential linear regression was used to determine if these activity measures were associated with systolic blood pressure after accounting for walking capacity (6-Minute Walk Test).ResultsAverage bout cadence (i.e., the average steps/minute across all bouts of walking) and the number of long (≥ 30 min) sedentary bouts were most strongly associated with systolic blood pressure. After accounting for covariates (ΔR2 = 0.089, p < 0.001) and walking capacity (ΔR2 = 0.002, p = 0.48), these activity measures were significantly associated with systolic blood pressure (ΔR2 = 0.027, p = 0.02). Higher systolic blood pressure was associated with older age (β = 0.219, p < 0.001), male gender (β = - 0.121, p = 0.046), black race (β = 0.165, p = 0.008), and a slower average bout cadence (β = - 0.159, p = 0.022).ConclusionsMeasures of activity intensity and sedentary behavior may be superior to commonly used measures, such as steps/day, when the outcome of interest is cardiovascular risk. The relationship between walking activity and cardiovascular risk cannot be inferred through laboratory-based assessments of walking capacity.

Dataset Information

Effect and process evaluation of a kindergarten-based, family-involved cluster randomised controlled trial in six European countries on four- to six-year-old children's steps per day: the ToyBox-study.

Publications

Effect and process evaluation of a kindergarten-based, family-involved cluster randomised controlled trial in six European countries on four- to six-year-old children's steps per day: the ToyBox-study.

Similar Datasets

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