Grant: CIHR Fellowship

Children from low-income households and ethnic minority groups are less active than other children. These children are at a greater risk of developing health problems as they get older. We need to find a way to increase their physical activity levels at an early age so that they can become active and healthy adolescents and adults. So far, physical activity interventions have not been able produce long-term changes in physical activity and we believe this is because they do no teach children how to be efficient and confident movers. In this study, we will have 30 low-income community preschool classrooms participate. 15 of the classrooms will be taught a movement-based instructional program where we will teach the children many different motor skills (throwing, catching, jumping, hopping) and build their movement confidence. The other 15 classrooms will participate in their usual free play activities at recess. The instructional program will occur 30 min/day, 4 days/week for 30 weeks. We will measure motor skills, movement confidence and physical activity in all children before the program, right after the program is finished and then once a year for the following 3 years. This will allow us to see if we were able to increase motor competence, movement confidence and physical activity compared to children who did not receive the instructional program and if these improvements continued long after the program was finished. Information gained from this study will promote movement-based physical activity programs that will help children be more active and more confident in their physical capabilities as they grow and develop.