Assessing the implementation of healthy eating and physical activity policies and practices in Early Childhood Education and Care in New South Wales, Australia: A cross-sectional study.
Ana Renda, Kathryn Reilly, Serene Yoong, Melanie Lum, Christophe Lecathelinais, Rebecca Hodder, Alice Grady
{"title":"Assessing the implementation of healthy eating and physical activity policies and practices in Early Childhood Education and Care in New South Wales, Australia: A cross-sectional study.","authors":"Ana Renda, Kathryn Reilly, Serene Yoong, Melanie Lum, Christophe Lecathelinais, Rebecca Hodder, Alice Grady","doi":"10.1002/hpja.917","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Issue addressed: </strong>Australian children are not meeting the recommended physical activity (PA) and healthy eating (HE) guidelines. Health behaviour practices implemented in community settings such as early education services can improve child's health outcomes and are therefore key to help meet guidelines. This study aimed to measure the implementation of HE and PA policies and practices in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, and to examine their association with service characteristics.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A random sample of 1122 centre-based ECEC services were invited to a cross-sectional survey measuring HE and PA policy and practice implementation. Regression analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between the service characteristics and implementation of policies/practices.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In total, 565 ECEC services completed the survey. Results show that while some practices are implemented, the implementation of practices promoting HE and PA education is low. Practices related to educator training for HE (18%) and PA (13%) were poorly implemented. The implementation of practices such as 'providing educator training around child PA', 'engaging families in activities to increase child PA' and 'encouraging supportive feeding practices' were significantly higher in services located in major cities than regional/remote services. 'Having a PA policy' and the practice of 'limiting the use of screen time' was significantly higher in long day care services than in preschools. The implementation of 'providing educator-led PA', 'providing free play opportunities' and 'having a PA policy' was significantly lower in private not-for-profit community managed services than in private for-profit services.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Implementation of various HE and PA policies and practices in regional/remote services, private not-for-profit services and preschools across NSW could be improved. SO WHAT?: Future research should be prioritised towards identifying factors influencing the implementation of these policies and practices to best tailor implementation support efforts for those who need it the most.</p>","PeriodicalId":47379,"journal":{"name":"Health Promotion Journal of Australia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Health Promotion Journal of Australia","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1002/hpja.917","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Issue addressed: Australian children are not meeting the recommended physical activity (PA) and healthy eating (HE) guidelines. Health behaviour practices implemented in community settings such as early education services can improve child's health outcomes and are therefore key to help meet guidelines. This study aimed to measure the implementation of HE and PA policies and practices in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, and to examine their association with service characteristics.
Methods: A random sample of 1122 centre-based ECEC services were invited to a cross-sectional survey measuring HE and PA policy and practice implementation. Regression analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between the service characteristics and implementation of policies/practices.
Results: In total, 565 ECEC services completed the survey. Results show that while some practices are implemented, the implementation of practices promoting HE and PA education is low. Practices related to educator training for HE (18%) and PA (13%) were poorly implemented. The implementation of practices such as 'providing educator training around child PA', 'engaging families in activities to increase child PA' and 'encouraging supportive feeding practices' were significantly higher in services located in major cities than regional/remote services. 'Having a PA policy' and the practice of 'limiting the use of screen time' was significantly higher in long day care services than in preschools. The implementation of 'providing educator-led PA', 'providing free play opportunities' and 'having a PA policy' was significantly lower in private not-for-profit community managed services than in private for-profit services.
Conclusions: Implementation of various HE and PA policies and practices in regional/remote services, private not-for-profit services and preschools across NSW could be improved. SO WHAT?: Future research should be prioritised towards identifying factors influencing the implementation of these policies and practices to best tailor implementation support efforts for those who need it the most.
解决的问题：澳大利亚儿童没有达到建议的体育活动（PA）和健康饮食（HE）准则的要求。在早期教育服务等社区环境中实施的健康行为实践可以改善儿童的健康状况，因此是帮助达到指南要求的关键。本研究旨在衡量澳大利亚新南威尔士州（NSW）的幼儿教育和保育（ECEC）服务机构实施 HE 和 PA 政策与实践的情况，并研究其与服务特点之间的关联：随机抽样邀请了 1122 家以中心为基础的幼儿教育和保育服务机构参与一项横断面调查，以衡量 HE 和 PA 政策及实践的实施情况。我们进行了回归分析，以评估服务特征与政策/实践实施之间的关系：共有 565 家幼儿保育和教育服务机构完成了调查。结果表明，虽然一些做法得到了实施，但促进幼儿保健和专业教育的做法实施率较低。与 HE（18%）和 PA（13%）教育工作者培训相关的措施实施情况较差。在大城市的服务机构中，"提供有关儿童 PA 的教育者培训"、"让家庭参与增加儿童 PA 的活动 "和 "鼓励支持性喂养做法 "等做法的实施率明显高于地区/偏远服务机构。在 "制定儿童娱乐政策 "和 "限制使用屏幕时间 "方面，长期日托服务机构的比例明显高于学前教育机构。在私立非营利社区管理服务机构中，"提供教育者主导的 PA"、"提供自由游戏机会 "和 "制定 PA 政策 "的实施率明显低于私立营利服务机构：结论：新南威尔士州的地区/偏远地区服务机构、私人非营利性服务机构和学前教育机构的各种 HE 和 PA 政策及实践的实施情况有待改进。所以呢？未来的研究应优先考虑确定影响这些政策和实践实施的因素，以便为最需要的人提供最佳的实施支持。
期刊介绍：
The purpose of the Health Promotion Journal of Australia is to facilitate communication between researchers, practitioners, and policymakers involved in health promotion activities. Preference for publication is given to practical examples of policies, theories, strategies and programs which utilise educational, organisational, economic and/or environmental approaches to health promotion. The journal also publishes brief reports discussing programs, professional viewpoints, and guidelines for practice or evaluation methodology. The journal features articles, brief reports, editorials, perspectives, "of interest", viewpoints, book reviews and letters.
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
分享
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
扫码关注我们
