Wellness Enhancing Physical Activity for Young Children

Physical Activity Clinical Trial

Official title:

Wellness Enhancing Physical Activity for Young Children Preschool Teacher Training

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03692702
• Other study ID #: WEPLAY
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: October 30, 2017
• Est. completion date: July 18, 2018

Study information

• Verified date: October 2018
• Source: Northeastern University
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Wellness Enhancing Physical Activity for Young Children (WE PLAY) is a teacher training that is based online and was designed to support early childhood educators' efforts to promote physical activity (PA) through structured and unstructured active play with preschoolers. WE PLAY includes six components: (1) online training; (2) video library; (3) game sheets; (4) teacher self-assessment; (5) supervisor support; and (6) activity packs that are designed to work synergistically. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of WE PLAY on children's levels of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during school hours. We hypothesized that children whose teachers received WE PLAY would have higher levels of MVPA during school hours at post-intervention relative to pre-intervention and relative to children whose teachers did not receive WE PLAY. A second purpose was to examine the impact of WE PLAY on teacher outcomes (i.e., knowledge, intentions, perceived behavior control, subjective norms, perceived power beliefs, normative beliefs, and moral norms). We hypothesized that teachers who participated in WE PLAY would demonstrate higher scores on each of these variables at post-intervention relative to pre-intervention and to teachers in the control group. A cluster randomized controlled trial was used in this study. Six Head Start preschools were pair matched and randomized to the intervention (WE PLAY) or control groups. Preschool children (N=57) and their teachers (N=25) participated. Child MVPA was measured using accelerometers for 5-day periods at pre- and post-intervention. Teacher variables were measured using online surveys.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 82
• Est. completion date: July 18, 2018
• Est. primary completion date: May 4, 2018
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 3 Years to 5 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• All teachers at the participating programs, and all children within the participating teachers' classrooms, were eligible to participate in this study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• There were no exclusion criteria based on gender, race/ethnicity, language spoken at home, socio-economic level, or any other demographic variable.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Physical Activity

Intervention

Behavioral:
• WE PLAY
WE PLAY is an online preschool teacher training that is based in theory and implementation science. It contains six components: (1) online training; (2) video library; (3) game sheets; (4) teacher self-assessment; (5) supervisor support; and (6) activity packs containing low cost physical activity equipment

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Northeastern University	Boston	Massachusetts

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Northeastern University

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Change in Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA) per minute in children	We measured child PA using ActiGraph GT9X Link monitors for 24-hour periods across five days at both pre-intervention and post-intervention	Pre-intervention was in week 1 and post-intervention was in week 4
Secondary	Change in teacher knowledge	12 knowledge items were developed for this study and were drawn from content covered in the online training. Scores ranged from 0-12. Higher scores indicate higher levels of knowledge.	Pre-intervention (week 1; both groups). The WE PLAY group's knowledge was assessed again immediately following the online training (week 2). The control group's knowledge was measured a second time at the post-intervention assessment (week 4).
Secondary	Change in perceived behavioral control	Items (n=4) were from a previously developed scale. Scores ranged from 4-24. Higher scores indicate more positive perceptions about one's ability to promote physical activity with students.	Pre-intervention (week 1) and post-intervention (week 4)
Secondary	Change in subjective norms	Items (n=3) were from a previously developed scale. Scores ranged from 3-18. Higher scores indicate that promoting physical activity with children is viewed as important by the people most important to the respondent.	Pre-intervention (week 1) and post-intervention (week 4)
Secondary	Change in moral norms	Items (n=4) were from a previously developed scale. Scores ranged from 4-24. Higher scores indicate a stronger moral obligation to promote physical activity with students.	Pre-intervention (week 1) and post-intervention (week 4)
Secondary	Change in normative beliefs	Items (n=5) were from a previously developed scale. Scores ranged from 5-30. Higher scores indicate that important people surrounding the respondent think that promoting physical activity with students is important.	Pre-intervention (week 1) and post-intervention (week 4)