ShortTerm Influence of Revised Provincial Accredi

Authors: Valerie Carson Dawne Clark Nancy Ogden Vicki Harber Nicholas Kuzik

Publish Date: 2015/01/30

Volume: 43, Issue: 6, Pages: 459-465

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Abstract

In December 2013 revised Alberta child care accreditation standards were released by the Alberta Government in Canada that included a new standard for physical activity and sedentary behavior in accredited child care settings The main purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the new accreditation standard in increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary behavior in a sample of children in Alberta Canada attending child care This prepost design study is based on 86 children aged 19–60 months from across Alberta Canada Levels of physical activity light LPA and moderate to vigorousintensity physical activity MVPA and sedentary time during child care were accelerometerderived at baseline October/November 2013 and followup after a new accreditation standard was implemented May/June 2014 Age and sexspecific BMI zscores at baseline and followup were also calculated Changes in physical activity and sedentary behavior were moderated by age group toddler 19–35 months and preschoolers 36–60 months Over an average 65 month period a small decrease in sedentary time 31 min/h P  005 and a moderate increase in MVPA 17 min/h P  005 were observed among toddlers along with a moderate decrease in BMI zscore 018 SD P  005 However among preschoolers a small increase in sedentary time 19 min/h P  005 and a small decrease in LPA 19 min/h P  005 were observed The new accreditation standard shows promise for toddlers Future research with a control group that evaluates the process of implementing the new standard at each center is needed to confirm and expand on these findings of this studyThe authors are grateful to all the children parents and child care centers who took part in the study The authors would like to thank their partners Corine Ferguson from the Alberta Resource Centre for Quality Enhancement and Karen Baretta from the Alberta Association for the Accreditation of Early Learning and Care Services for their help with recruitment The authors would also like to thank Alannah Turcott Kristen Duke Jayanie Soroka Amanda Ledda Morgan Wagner Steven Ainsley and Helena Lee for their help with data collection This research was funded by the Alberta Center for Child Family and Community Research ACCFCR The sponsor had no role in the study design in the collection analysis and interpretation of data in the writing of the report and in the decision to submit the article for publication

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