The Effectiveness of Physical Activity Policies in Center-Based Childcare: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Many young children spend a significant portion of time in center-based childcare settings; however, these children are often not sufficiently active during care. Promoting physical activity through policy implementation is one mechanism which has the potential to increase physical activity. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to provide an overview of physical activity policies implemented in childcare centers and determine their effect on children’s physical activity. Methods: Electronic searches were conducted in CINAHL, Medline, PsycINFO, EMBASE, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, and Sports Medicine and Education Database. Two reviewers independently examined 3,286 articles to find peer-reviewed, original studies that assessed the impact of physical activity policies on children’s physical activity. Random effects meta-analyses were used to determine the impact of policies. Results: A total of 13 articles met the inclusion criteria; in which 12 unique policies were implemented. Results of the meta-analyses suggest that introducing new physical activity policies did not increase children’s moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA); however, compared to centers without a formalized physical activity policy, children in centers with a formalized policy engaged in significantly more MVPA and total physical activity. Conclusions: Introducing new physical activity policies alone may not be sufficient to increase children’s engagement in physical activity, and it may be important to combine with capacity-building initiatives for childcare staff and early childhood educators. Results reinforce the value of childcare centers implementing their own formalized physical activity policies to support children’s physical activity, which highlights the importance of regulating physical activity practices in childcare. Registration: CRD42022326037.

KEYWORDS:

• Childcare
• physical activity
• policy
• young children

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Leann Blake for her assistance with literature screening.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

KS was responsible for the literature search, literature review and inclusion, data extraction, and quality assessment. MB was responsible for data analysis, and MS was responsible for quality assessment. KS and MB drafted the manuscript and all authors have read and revised the final version of the manuscript.

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/02701367.2023.2252030.

Additional information

Funding

KS holds a trainee award from the Children’s Health Research Institute (2022–2023). MS is funded by an Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2022–2023).