Early Childhood Education and Care Attendance and Its Association With Outdoor Play, Screen Time and Sleep Duration of Young Children: Findings From the CHAT Trial in Australia

Background

Effects of attending early childhood education and care (ECEC) on health behaviours of young children remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate whether ECEC attendance was associated with outdoor play, screen time, sleep duration and family demographics of children aged 2 and 3 years.

Methods

Secondary analysis was conducted using data extracted from two linked trials conducted in Australia, 2017–2020. Telephone surveys were conducted with participating mothers for data collection. Multiple logistic and linear regression models were built to investigate the associations of ECEC attendance with outdoor play, screen time, sleep duration and family demographics among young children.

Results

At ages 2 and 3 years, 797 and 537 mothers completed surveys, respectively. Of respondents, 65% and 72% of children attended ECEC, respectively. Children who attended ECEC had 17 min (95% CI 3.8–30.5) and 28 min (95% CI 14.1–41.9) more daily outdoor playtime and had 13 min (95% CI 4.0–21.5) and 19 min (95% CI 6.4–30.7) less daily screen time at home at 2 and 3 years, respectively. Although ECEC attendance was not associated with sleep duration, children who attended ECEC were more likely to meet all three recommendations (outdoor play, screen time and sleep) with adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.84 (95% CI 1.24–2.72) at age 2 and AOR 2.34 (95% CI 1.28–4.28) at age 3. Mothers who were employed, first-time mothers, spoke English at home or had a high household income were more likely to use ECEC services.

Conclusions

ECEC services may hold promise to influence outdoor play and screen time among young children. Children from lower socio-demographic background had a lower rate of ECEC attendance. Future health promotion programmes for young children need to also consider children who do not attend ECEC.