Effects of a Head Start Obesity Prevention Pilot on Preschoolers’ Physical Activity

Authors

Shiyu Li, The University of Texas at San AntonioFollow
Azeem A. Hussain, The University of Texas at San AntonioFollow
Fernando Juarez, The University of Texas at San AntonioFollow
Vanessa Estrada, The University of Texas at San AntonioFollow
Erica Sosa, The University of Texas at San AntonioFollow
Derek P. Hales, University of North Carolina at Chapel HillFollow
Zenong Yin, The University of Texas at San AntonioFollow

Abstract

Regular participation in physical activity (PA) is important for the healthy growth and development of preschoolers. The Míranos! Look at Us We Are Healthy (Míranos!) is an obesity prevention intervention with age-appropriate structured and unstructured outdoor/indoor play and classroom activities led by teacher. As an objective instrument to provide information on human movements, accelerometer can accurately identify the levels of physical activity and assess the effects of physical activity intervention. PURPOSE: to evaluate the effects of an 8-week Míranos! pilot intervention on increasing physical activity levels during school time in preschoolers. METHODS: Study participants were children aged 3-5 years enrolled in two Head Start Centers in San Antonio, Texas. Assessments of physical activity level were obtained for time spent in light PA (LPA) and moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA). Children wore accelerometers (ActiGraph wGT3X-BT, ActiGraph, Pensacola, FL) for two days at baseline, 4-weeks, and 8-weeks of the intervention. Accelerometers were worn on the wrist when children arrived at the center and collected by the teachers at the end of the day. Accelerometers must be worn for a minimum of 6 hours for data to be included for analysis. Data were processed on ActiLife-6 (Version 6.13.3, Copyright 2009-2015 Actigraph, LLC.) using cut-off points from Johansson (2016) calibration study. Vector magnitude (VM) counts between 4885 and 11292 per minute were classified as LPA, VM counts above 11293 per minute were classified as MVPA. Independent Samples T-Test was used to assess differences in time (minutes) in LPA, MVPA, and total PA from baseline to 4-week and 8-week time point. RESULTS: Valid data were obtained from 30 children. Independent Samples T-Test showed that there was a significant increase (mean difference=-7.59; P

Recommended Citation

Li, Shiyu; Hussain, Azeem A.; Juarez, Fernando; Estrada, Vanessa; Sosa, Erica; Hales, Derek P.; and Yin, Zenong (2018) "Effects of a Head Start Obesity Prevention Pilot on Preschoolers’ Physical Activity," International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings: Vol. 2: Iss. 10, Article 31.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/ijesab/vol2/iss10/31