A Built Environmental Intervention and a Combination Built Environmental and Cognitive/Behavioral Intervention to Increase Individual Physical Activity in 3 to 5- Year-Old Children

Physical activity is a key factor in obesity prevention efforts and is promoted in children as a life-long positive health behavior. Understanding potential behavioral and environmental influences on physical activity levels among children of varying ages is a crucial step in combating childhood obesity and subsequent adult obesity. The purpose of this study was to test the effect of two interventions on light, moderate, and vigorous physical activity levels of preschool children. A longitudinal quasi-experimental time-series design was used to test the interventions. The interventions introduced were a built environmental intervention consisting of adding portable play equipment indoors and outdoors and a combination built environmental with a cognitive/behavioral intervention consisting of not only the portable play equipment indoors and outdoors, but also physical activity education targeting the staff and children. Children from two Head Start centers in Mississippi were sampled. The Head Start centers were randomly assigned to one of the two interventions. All children in both Head Start centers were invited to participate.;Parental consents were obtained for 50 children in group I, the environmental only intervention group. There were 47 children with parental consents from the combination intervention group, group II. Physical activity was measured via accelerometers during school time on three days at baseline, three weeks post intervention, and again six weeks post intervention for both groups. The sample was homogenous; 68% of the children in group I were 4-years-old and 59% of children in group II were 4-years-old. Only three children in the study were Caucasian, while the remainder was African-American. Males and females were represented somewhat evenly in both groups with 48% males in group I and 46% males in group II. The mother's education level was reported as high school or a general equivalency diploma as 40% in group I and 38% in group II. The mean BMI was 16.41 for group I and 16.46 for group II.;Repeated Measures of Analysis of Variance (RANOVA) was conducted to assess whether there were any differences between the physical activity levels of the two groups. Results indicated that light (LPA), moderate (MPA), and vigorous (VPA) physical activity decreased each measurement period in both group I and group II. Light and moderate physical activity decreased significantly in group I, the environmental only intervention group from baseline to the last measurement period at six weeks (LPA p = .002; MPA p = .001). Vigorous physical activity (VPA) did not significantly differ from baseline to week six in group I (p = .07). Light, moderate, and vigorous physical activity significantly decreased from baseline to week six in group II (LPA p < .001; MV p < .001; VPA p < .001). There was no difference in the two group interventions. Physical activity was not increased and instead declined over the short time of the intervention. Physical activity declined less in group I when compared to group II. Further research is needed to assess physical activity responses in preschool children to environmental and cognitive/behavioral interventions.