Anne Soini

Results from Finland's 2014 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth.

The Finnish 2014 Report Card on Physical Activity (PA) for Children and Youth is the first assessment of Finlands efforts in promoting and facilitating PA opportunities for children and youth using the Active Healthy Kids Canada grading system. The Report Card relies primarily on research findings from 6 Research Institutes, coordinated by the University of Jyväskylä. The Research Work Group convened to evaluate the aggregated evidence and assign grades for each of the 9 PA indicators, following the Canadian Report Card protocol. Grades from A (highest) to F (lowest) varied in Finland as follows: 1) Overall physical activity-fulfillment of recommendations (D), 2) Organized sport participation (C), 3) Active play (D), 4) Active transportation (B), 5) Sedentary behaviors (D), 6) Family and peers (C), 7) School (B), 8) Community and the built environment (B), and 9) Government (B). This comprehensive summary and assessment of indicators related to PA in Finnish children and youth indicates that Finland still has many challenges to promote a physically active life style for youth.

Seasonal and daily variation in physical activity among three-year-old Finnish preschool children

The purposes of this study were to assess seasonal, daily, and gender variations in childrens physical activity (PA). ActiGraph GT3X accelerometers were used to record the three-year-old childrens PA levels for five consecutive days in autumn and winter. Complete data for both seasons were obtained for 47 children. Despite a significant difference in seasonal temperatures (p < .001), differences were only found for weekdays light PA (p = .021). No difference in PA was observed between weekdays and weekend days. Only 20% of the sample had ≥120 minutes light-to-vigorous PA (LMVPA), and 46% of children had ≥60 minutes moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA). Boys spent more minutes in LMVPA (p = .001) and MVPA (p = .004) than girls. The current findings indicated that season and day of the week only minimally influence childrens PA levels, whereas gender continues to be a significant factor.

Directly Observed Physical Activity and Fundamental Motor Skills in Four-Year-Old Children in Day Care.

Physical activity (PA), its location, social interactions and fundamental motor skills (FMS) were investigated in four-year-old Finnish children in day care. Six skills in the stability, locomotor and manipulative domains were assessed in 53 children (24 boys, 29 girls, normal anthropometry) with the APM-Inventory manual for assessing children’s perceptual and FMS and Total Motor Scores (TMS; 0–6 points) calculated. PA intensity, location, group composition and activity type − sitting, squatting, kneeling − were directly observed with a modified version of the Observational System for Recording Physical Activity in Children – Preschool Version (OSRAC – P) during three consecutive days in 14 centres. Altogether, 13,302 PA intervals were analysed. Results: Mean TMS was 2.45 (±1.8) points. Most PA intervals were coded as sedentary. Pearson Chi-squares indicated differences in PA intensities both between indoor and outdoor locations (p < 0.001) and between solitary and non-solitary group composition (p < 0.018). Indoors, more than 70% of intervals were spent being sedentary and 5% in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA). Outdoors, sedentary accounted for 45% and MVPA 19%. When solitary, 57% of intervals were sedentary and 13% MVPA. When non-solitary, 60% of intervals were sedentary and 12% MVPA. Forty-eight per cent of intervals were spent sitting, squatting or kneeling. TMS were not significantly associated with biological factors, PA or social interaction, but outdoor PA tended toward statistical significance (IRR = 1.88, p = 0.070), indicating higher TMS in those who demonstrated more outdoor PA. We concluded that PA in day care may be inadequate to support children’s FMS development.

A comparison of physical activity levels in childcare contexts among Finnish and Dutch three-year-olds

The aim of the current study was to determine Finnish and Dutch three-year-old preschool children’s physical activity (PA) levels and how levels vary across gender, location, time of day and social contexts in both countries. A modified version of the Observational System for Recording Physical Activity in Children-Preschool (OSRAC-P) was used to measure children’s PA levels and contextual variables (e.g. group composition, prompts) of children attending childcare centres in Finland and the Netherlands. In total, 90 Finnish children (46 boys and 44 girls) and 97 Dutch children (46 boys and 51 girls) were observed. Three-level linear regression analyses with cross level interactions were used to assess differences between the countries in the association between the context variables and PA. During the observations, the present sample of children was mostly sedentary in nature. Outdoor location and prompts (both positive and negative) were associated with higher levels of activity in both countries. Non-solitary playing was associated with higher activity levels in the Netherlands, but not in Finland, whereas child-initiated play was positively associated with Finnish but not Dutch children’s PA levels. Finnish children were more active in the morning compared to the afternoon, while in the Dutch children PA was unaffected by time. The present findings indicate that better understanding of the contextual factors and interactions in children’s PA behaviours across the two countries could help in planning childcare interventions to increase the PA levels of preschool children.