Table 4.
Prevalence and content of childcare center physical activity and screen-viewing policies
| Does your center have a policy or general practice that pertains specifically to | Yes, written policy N (%) |
Yes, not written policy but general practice N (%) |
No N (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| The amount of physical activity time for children | 295 (44.1) | 304 (45.4) | 70 (10.5) |
| The amount of active play time for children | 230 (36.5) | 323 (51.3) | 77 (12.2) |
| The amount of teacher-led active play time | 101 (16.0) | 329 (52.1) | 202 (32.0) |
| The amount of time children spend outdoors each day | 395 (63.0) | 197 (31.4) | 35 (5.6) |
| Appropriate clothing & shoes needed for outdoor play | 436 (67.5) | 174 (26.9) | 36 (5.6) |
| Staff behavior during outdoor play time | 289 (46.3) | 255 (40.9) | 80 (12.8) |
| Giving extra inside active play time as a reward | 23 (3.7) | 112 (17.9) | 492 (78.5) |
| Not taking away inside active play time as a punishment | 99 (15.9) | 134 (21.5) | 389 (62.5) |
| Giving extra outside play time as a reward | 20 (3.2) | 125 (20.1) | 477 (76.7) |
| Not taking away outside play time as a punishment | 90 (14.5) | 134 (21.6) | 396 (63.9) |
| The size of indoor active play space | 171 (28.5) | 185 (30.9) | 243 (40.6) |
| The type of indoor active play space | 122 (21.1) | 201 (34.8) | 255 (44.1) |
| The amount of fixed play equipment (i.e., climbers, jungle gym) | 88 (14.6) | 166 (27.5) | 350 (57.9) |
| The type (i.e., climbers, jungle gym) of fixed play equipment | 70 (12.2) | 168 (29.2) | 337 (58.6) |
| The amount of portable play equipment (i.e., balls, push/pull toys) | 99 (16.7) | 259 (43.7) | 235 (39.6) |
| The type (i.e., balls, push/pull toys) of portable play equipment | 80 (14.4) | 229 (41.3) | 245 (44.2) |
| The size of outdoor active play space | 226 (40.1) | 167 (29.7) | 170 (30.2) |
| The type of outdoor active play space | 139 (25.6) | 172 (31.7) | 231 (42.6) |
| The amount of time children can watch television/video each day | 178 (29.3) | 152 (25.0) | 277 (45.6) |
| The type of television/video programming children are allowed to watch | 135 (22.9) | 141 (23.9) | 313 (53.1) |
| The amount of time staff can spend watching television/video | 79 (13.4) | 104 (17.7) | 406 (68.9) |
| The amount of time children spend working on the computer/iPad | 110 (18.3) | 161 (26.8) | 329 (54.8) |
| The amount of time staff spend working on the computer/iPad | 90 (15.1) | 190 (31.8) | 317 (53.1) |
| The amount of time children can play video games | 94 (15.9) | 114 (19.2) | 385 (64.9) |
| The amount of time staff can play video games | 69 (11.8) | 92 (15.8) | 423 (72.4) |
| Staff supervision of children’s media (e.g., television, computer, video, etc.) use | 108 (18.6) | 158 (27.1) | 316 (54.3) |
| The use of media (e.g., television, computer, video, etc.) as a reward/ punishment for children | 43 (7.3) | 89 (15.2) | 454 (77.5) |
| Physical activity education for children | 91 (15.5) | 212 (36.2) | 283 (48.3) |
| Physical activity training for staff | 55 (9.3) | 193 (32.6) | 344 (58.1) |
| Physical activity education for parents | 29 (5.0) | 113 (19.3) | 442 (75.7) |
Note: Some values shown in the table may not add up to 100% or n = 1290 as some participants chose not to answer certain questions; bolded questions indicate questions that have been qualitatively analyzed (see Tables 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10). These questions were adapted, with permission, from the Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation Self-Report tool (EPAO-SR; [21])