Table 5.
Regulatory bodies of childcare center physical activity and screen-viewing policies
| Provincial-/Territorial-level N (%) |
Organization-level N (%) |
Center-level N (%) |
No policy N (%) |
Other N (%) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The amount of physical activity time for children | 227 (42.4) | 44 (8.2) | 163 (30.4) | 96 (17.9) | 6 (1.1) |
| The amount of active play time for children | 191 (36.0) | 58 (10.9) | 183 (34.5) | 94 (17.7) | 4 (0.8) |
| The amount of teacher-led active play time | 50 (9.5) | 75 (14.2) | 221 (41.9) | 172 (32.6) | 10 (1.9) |
| The amount of time children spend outdoors each day | 279 (52.5) | 32 (6.0) | 177 (33.3) | 38 (7.2) | 5 (0.9) |
| Appropriate clothing & shoes needed for outdoor play | 40 (7.5) | 103 (19.4) | 343 (64.6) | 39 (7.3) | 6 (1.1) |
| Staff behavior during outdoor play time | 77 (14.6) | 101 (19.2) | 274 (52.0) | 65 (12.3) | 10 (1.9) |
| Giving extra inside active play time as a reward | 13 (2.6) | 35 (7.0) | 104 (20.8) | 282 (56.5) | 65 (13.0) |
| Not taking away inside active play time as a punishment | 42 (8.3) | 43 (8.5) | 118 (23.4) | 238 (47.1) | 64 (12.7) |
| Giving extra outside play time as a reward | 14 (2.8) | 31 (6.2) | 111 (22.0) | 276 (54.8) | 72 (14.3) |
| Not taking away outside play time as a punishment | 52 (10.3) | 40 (7.9) | 119 (23.6) | 229 (45.3) | 65 (12.9) |
| The size of indoor active play space | 253 (49.4) | 36 (7.0) | 106 (20.7) | 100 (19.5) | 17 (3.3) |
| The type of indoor active play space | 149 (29.0) | 52 (10.1) | 156 (30.4) | 136 (26.5) | 21 (4.1) |
| The amount of fixed play equipment (i.e., climbers, jungle gym) | 102 (20.0) | 52 (10.2) | 154 (30.1) | 170 (33.3) | 33 (6.5) |
| The type (i.e., climbers, jungle gym) of fixed play equipment | 111 (21.7) | 54 (10.6) | 151 (29.5) | 162 (31.7) | 33 (6.5) |
| The amount of portable play equipment (i.e., balls, push/pull toys) | 100 (19.5) | 57 (11.1) | 185 (36.0) | 151 (29.4) | 21 (4.1) |
| The type (i.e., balls, push/pull toys) of portable play equipment | 83 (16.2) | 61 (11.9) | 196 (38.2) | 153 (29.8) | 20 (3.9) |
| The size of outdoor active play space | 312 (61.1) | 35 (6.8) | 82 (16.0) | 70 (13.7) | 12 (2.3) |
| The type of outdoor active play space | 181 (35.6) | 53 (10.4) | 136 (26.8) | 120 (23.6) | 18 (3.5) |
| The amount of time children can watch television/video each day | 36 (7.1) | 75 (14.9) | 173 (34.3) | 152 (30.2) | 68 (13.5) |
| The type of television/video programming children are allowed to watch | 35 (6.9) | 72 (14.2) | 180 (35.6) | 150 (29.6) | 69 (13.6) |
| The amount of time staff can spend watching television/video | 20 (4.0) | 61 (12.2) | 149 (29.9) | 186 (37.3) | 83 (16.6) |
| The amount of time children spend working on the computer/iPad | 19 (3.8) | 70 (14.0) | 174 (34.9) | 169 (33.9) | 67 (13.4) |
| The amount of time staff spend working on the computer/iPad | 15 (3.0) | 72 (14.3) | 181 (36.1) | 173 (34.5) | 61 (12.2) |
| The amount of time children can play video games | 19 (3.8) | 61 (12.3) | 156 (31.6) | 177 (35.8) | 81 (16.4) |
| The amount of time staff can play video games | 12 (2.4) | 59 (12.0) | 136 (27.6) | 191 (38.7) | 95 (19.3) |
| Staff supervision of children’s media (e.g., television, computer, video, etc.) use | 29 (5.8) | 68 (13.6) | 186 (37.3) | 152 (30.5) | 64 (12.8) |
| The use of media (e.g., television, computer, video, etc.) as a reward/punishment for children | 23 (4.7) | 52 (10.6) | 136 (27.6) | 188 (38.2) | 93 (18.9) |
| Physical activity education for children | 43 (8.5) | 67 (13.2) | 186 (36.8) | 167 (33.0) | 43 (8.5) |
| Physical activity training for staff | 19 (3.7) | 85 (16.8) | 170 (33.5) | 186 (36.7) | 47 (9.3) |
| Physical activity education for parents | 14 (2.8) | 55 (11.0) | 141 (28.3) | 221 (44.4) | 67 (13.5) |
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])