Shirley Brierley

Pre-schoolers in the playground an outdoor physical activity intervention for children aged 18 months to 4 years old: study protocol for a pilot cluster randomised controlled trial.

BackgroundThe pre-school years are considered critical for establishing healthy lifestyle behaviours such as physical activity. Levels of physical activity track through childhood into adulthood, thus establishing habitual physical activity early in life is vital. Time spent outdoors is associated with greater physical activity and playground interventions have been shown to increase physical activity in school aged children. There are few pre-school, playground-based interventions, and evaluations of these have found mixed results. A recent report published by the UK Chief Medical Officer (CMO) highlighted that new interventions to promote movement in the early years (0–5 years old) are needed. The aim of this study is to undertake a pilot cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT) of an outdoor playground-based physical activity intervention for parents and their children aged 18 months to 4 years old (“Pre-schoolers in the Playground”; PiP) and to assess the feasibility of conducting a full scale cluster RCT. The PiP intervention is grounded in behavioural theory (Social Cognitive Theory), and is in accordance with the CMO guidance for physical activity in the early years. It is informed by existing literature and data collected from focus groups with parents.Methods/DesignOne hundred and fifty pre-school children affiliated to 10 primary schools will be recruited. Schools will be randomised to either the PiP intervention arm or the control arm (usual practice). Children in the intervention arm will be invited to attend three 30 minute outdoor play sessions per week for 30 weeks (3 school terms) at the school. Feasibility will be assessed by examining recruitment rates, attendance, attrition, acceptability of the trial and of the PiP intervention to parents, fidelity of intervention implementation, capability and capacity for schools to deliver the intervention. Health outcomes and the feasibility of outcome measurement tools will be assessed. These include physical activity via triaxial, accelerometry (Actigraph GT3X+), anthropometry (height, body mass, BMI, waist and upper arm circumference), health related quality of life for child (PedsQL) and parent (EQ5D), parent wellbeing (ComQol-A5), injuries and health service use. A health economic evaluation will also be undertaken.DiscussionIt is anticipated that results of this pilot trial will be published in spring 2015.Trial registrationCurrent controlled trials: ISRCTN54165860

Beyond height and weight: a programme of school nurse assessed skinfold measurements from white British and South Asian origin children aged 4-5 years within the Born in Bradford cohort study.

Objective To describe the feasibility, reliability and additional information gained from collecting additional body fatness measures (beyond height and weight) from UK reception year children. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Bradford, UK. Participants 2458 reception year children participating in the Born in Bradford (BiB) cohort study. Main outcome measures The feasibility and reliability of subscapular and triceps skinfold measurements and differences in adiposity between ethnic groups. Results Of those children who were matched to their school, 91% had a subscapular skinfold measurement and 92% had a triceps skinfold measurement recorded. Reliability was generally over 90% for all measurers and both measurements. Pakistani children were slightly taller but weighed less and had lower triceps skinfold thickness (mean difference −1.8 mm, 95% CI −2.1 to −1.4 mm) but higher subscapular (mean difference 0.1 mm, 95% CI −0.1 to 0.4 mm) than white British children. Conclusions We have shown that it is feasible for school nurses to collect skinfold measurements in a similar way to the height and weight measurements collected from reception year children for the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP), and that these measurements are reliable. It is important for healthcare practice to acknowledge ethnic-specific risk and these additional measurements can provide important information to examine population-level risk in populations with large proportions of South Asian children.