School of Physical Education, Shanghai University of Sport, 650 Qingyuanhuan Road, Shanghai, 200438, China.
Department of Human Movement Studies and Special Education, Darden College of Education & Professional Studies, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, 23529, USA.
BMC Public Health. 2024 Aug 13;24(1):2190. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-19636-x.
Globally, the majority of kindergarten-aged children face obesity issues and insufficient physical activity (PA) engagement. Regular PA participation can provide various health benefits, including obesity reduction, for kindergarten-aged children. However, limited studies have investigated the factors influencing kindergarten-aged children's PA engagement from the perspective of their teachers. This qualitative study aimed to identify factors that could help promote PA among kindergarten-aged children from teachers' perspectives, including facilitators, barriers, and teachers' recommendations.
Fifteen kindergarten teachers (age range: 28-50 years; mean age: 38.53 years) with teaching experience ranging from 2 to 31 years (mean: 16.27 years) were recruited from Shanghai municipality, Henan, and Jiangsu provinces in China. One-on-one semi-structured interviews were conducted via face-to-face (n = 7) or telephone (n = 8) to gather insights into factors influencing PA promotion among kindergarten-aged children. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using a constant comparison approach based on grounded theory, which involved open, axial, and selective coding processes.
The study revealed mutual theoretical support between themes and the social-ecological model (SEM), as factors identified in the study are distributed at various levels of the SEM. Twelve factors were identified at four levels of the SEM: (1) intrapersonal level (children's personality and skills), (2) interpersonal level (family, peers, and teachers influence), (3) organizational level (school environment and resources, opportunities for kindergarten teachers' training and children's PA, design and organization of PA, and PA that children need), (4) community level (family-school partnerships).
Various factors at different levels can influence kindergarten-aged children's PA. The study's findings revealed that these factors are distributed across the first four levels of SEM, with the majority being at the organizational level. These multilevel findings are expected to assist in developing and implementing more effective PA interventions for kindergarten-aged children. Future research is warranted to identify strategies for promoting PA among kindergarten-aged children at the policy level of the SEM.
在全球范围内，大多数幼儿园阶段的儿童都面临肥胖问题和身体活动不足。定期进行身体活动可以为幼儿园阶段的儿童提供各种健康益处，包括减轻肥胖。然而，很少有研究从教师的角度调查影响幼儿园阶段儿童身体活动参与的因素。本定性研究旨在从教师的角度确定有助于促进幼儿园阶段儿童身体活动的因素，包括促进因素、障碍因素和教师建议。
从中国上海、河南和江苏三省招募了 15 名幼儿园教师（年龄 28-50 岁；平均年龄 38.53 岁），他们的教学经验从 2 年到 31 年不等（平均 16.27 年）。通过面对面（n=7）或电话（n=8）进行一对一的半结构化访谈，以了解影响幼儿园阶段儿童身体活动促进的因素。访谈进行了录音、转录，并使用基于扎根理论的不断比较方法进行了分析，该方法涉及开放、轴向和选择性编码过程。
研究结果表明，主题与社会生态学模式（SEM）之间存在相互理论支持，因为研究中确定的因素分布在 SEM 的各个层次。在 SEM 的四个层次上确定了 12 个因素：（1）个体内部层次（儿童的个性和技能）；（2）人际层次（家庭、同伴和教师的影响）；（3）组织层次（学校环境和资源、幼儿园教师培训和儿童身体活动的机会、身体活动的设计和组织以及儿童需要的身体活动）；（4）社区层次（家校合作）。
不同层次的各种因素都会影响幼儿园阶段儿童的身体活动。研究结果表明，这些因素分布在 SEM 的前四个层次，其中大部分在组织层次。这些多层次的发现有望帮助为幼儿园阶段的儿童制定和实施更有效的身体活动干预措施。需要进一步的研究来确定在 SEM 的政策层面促进幼儿园阶段儿童身体活动的策略。
