The early years are a crucial period for establishing healthy movement behaviours, with physical activity playing an important role in healthy growth and development. Yet despite these benefits, young children are spending increasing amounts of time sedentary. This is particularly concerning in childcare settings, where many Canadian children under 6 spend a large portion of their waking day, but where compliance with physical activity guidelines is often low. Despite the important role of childcare, and its strong potential to foster healthy movement behaviours, few provinces and territories provide clear regulations in this area. As a result, childcare centres and educators often have limited guidance and support.

 

To help address this gap, our team co-developed childcare movement behaviour Best Practices and the TEACH e-Learning course. This study will evaluate the impact of implementing Best Practices + TEACH on children’s movement behaviours while attending childcare.