Hunter New England Population Health, Wallsend, New South Wales, Australia.
School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia.
Health Promot J Austr. 2020 Apr;31(2):199-206. doi: 10.1002/hpja.285. Epub 2019 Aug 24.
Modifying the scheduling of physical activity opportunities to provide children with more frequent opportunities for outdoor free play has been demonstrated to increase child physical activity while in care. The primary aim of this study was to describe the implementation of continuous free play schedules to allow children to access outdoor play areas, consistent with sector guidelines in a national sample of Australian childcare services. Secondary aims were to investigate the associations between the implementation of such schedules and service characteristics, and assess the perceived barriers and enablers to implementation.
A cross-sectional study was undertaken with a random sample of 326 centre-based childcare services located across Australia. Childcare service characteristics, continuous free play scheduling and perceived barriers and enablers to implementation were assessed via a survey administered to service managers online or via telephone.
A total of 203 service managers (62%) reported implementing a continuous free play schedule, for three periods of 126 minutes per period, each day on average. Service type (long day care services), size (services with higher numbers of child enrolments [≥80 children]) and socio-economic area (services located in lower socio-economic areas) were associated with the implementation of a continuous free play schedule. The most prevalent barriers to implementation included insufficient staff to ensure adequate supervision of children (69%) and service layout being unsuitable (65%), while the most prevalent enablers included advice on how to overcome staffing or supervision issues (89%) and to re-orientate the service layout (54%).
There is scope to support the implementation of continuous free play schedules consistent with childcare sector guidelines. SO WHAT?: Future intervention research that targets the reported barriers and enablers to implementation is needed.
修改体育活动的安排，为儿童提供更多的户外自由游戏机会，已被证明可以增加儿童在护理期间的身体活动。本研究的主要目的是描述连续自由游戏时间表的实施情况，以便儿童能够进入户外游戏区，符合澳大利亚全国儿童保育服务部门的准则。次要目的是调查这些时间表的实施与服务特征之间的关联，并评估实施的障碍和促进因素。
对澳大利亚各地的 326 个中心式儿童保育服务机构进行了横断面研究。通过在线或通过电话向服务经理进行调查，评估了儿童保育服务特征、连续自由游戏时间表以及实施的障碍和促进因素。
共有 203 名服务经理（62%）报告实施了连续自由游戏时间表，每天平均分为三个时间段，每个时间段为 126 分钟。服务类型（长期日托服务）、规模（儿童入读人数较多的服务[≥80 人]）和社会经济区域（位于社会经济水平较低地区的服务）与连续自由游戏时间表的实施相关。实施的最常见障碍包括工作人员不足，无法确保对儿童进行充分监督（69%）和服务布局不合适（65%），而最常见的促进因素包括如何克服人员配备或监督问题的建议（89%）和重新调整服务布局（54%）。
有充分的空间支持实施符合儿童保育部门准则的连续自由游戏时间表。那么，下一步应该怎么做呢？未来需要开展针对实施障碍和促进因素的干预研究。
