ABC Grow Healthy Practices and Obesity-Related Health Behaviours in Family Child Care Homes in South Carolina.

Background: Many states throughout the United States have introduced Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) to address childhood obesity in preschool-age children, but few have examined the impact of these standards in Family Child Care Homes (FCCHs). In South Carolina, the ABC Grow Healthy Practices are specific QRIS items that include diet, physical activity and sleep practices.

Methods: The purposes of this cross-sectional study are to (1) describe physical activity levels, sleep duration and diet quality of children attending FCCHs in South Carolina and (2) compare physical activity levels, sleep duration and diet quality between children attending FCCHs that were enrolled versus not enrolled in the ABC programme.

Statewide Dissemination, Adoption, and Implementation of the SHAPES Intervention Via Online Professional Development to Promote Children's Physical Activity in Early Care and Education Programs.

Few evidence-based obesity interventions have been disseminated in early care and education (ECE) settings. This study describes Go SHAPES: the statewide dissemination of the Study of Health and Activity in Preschool Environments (SHAPES) intervention via online professional development, its classroom implementation, and factors associated with its implementation in ECE. We recruited ECE teachers through professional conferences to participate in online professional development with ongoing technical assistance support to implement SHAPES in their classrooms.

The Youth Fitness International Test (YFIT) battery for monitoring and surveillance among children and adolescents: A modified Delphi consensus project with 169 experts from 50 countries and territories.

Background: Physical fitness in childhood and adolescence is associated with a variety of health outcomes and is a powerful marker of current and future health. However, inconsistencies in tests and protocols limit international monitoring and surveillance. The objective of the study was to seek international consensus on a proposed, evidence-informed, Youth Fitness International Test (YFIT) battery and protocols for health monitoring and surveillance in children and adolescents aged 6-18 years.

Evaluating the performance of open-source and proprietary processing of actigraphy sleep estimation in children with suspected sleep disorders: A comparison with polysomnography.

Study Objectives: Evaluate the performance of actigraphy-based open-source and proprietary sleep algorithms compared to polysomnography in children with suspected sleep disorders.

Methods: In a sleep clinic, 110 children (5-12 years, 54% female, 50% Black, 82% with sleep disorders) wore wrist-placed ActiGraph GT9X during overnight polysomnography. Actigraphy data were scored as sleep or wake using open-source GGIR and proprietary ActiLife software.

Longitudinal Change in Physical Activity in Children 6 to 36 Months of Age.

Objective: To describe the developmental pattern for physical activity (PA) in children 6-36 months of age and to identify factors that are longitudinally associated with PA as children transition from infancy to preschool age.

Study Design: The study employed a prospective longitudinal design with baseline data collected when children were approximately 6 months of age. Mothers and infants (n = 124) were recruited through community and educational settings in South Carolina.

Longitudinal Associations Between Physical Activity and Sleep Duration in Infants and Toddlers.

Purpose: This study examined longitudinal associations between average physical activity (PA) levels in children and their sleep duration, and whether changes in PA levels are associated with their sleep duration.

Methods: Data were collected on 108 children at 4 time points: when children were 6, 12, 18, and 24 months of age (44% female, 50% Non-Hispanic White). PA was assessed using accelerometry.

Neighborhood environments underpin screen time intervention success in children: Evidence from a study of greenspace and community programming across 130 US communities.

The goal of this study was to understand how neighborhood greenspace access may support or hinder the effectiveness of community programs and policies (CPPs) aimed at reducing racial and ethnic inequities in screen time among 4598 US children. We found higher CPP intensity was significantly associated with fewer screen time behaviors in high greenspace neighborhoods, but not neighborhoods with low or moderate greenspace. Moreover, there were significant differences in greenspace access by neighborhood-level race and ethnicity.

Differences in elementary-age children's accelerometer - measured physical activity between school and summer: three-year findings from the What's UP (Undermining Prevention) with summer observational cohort study.

Background: Among elementary-aged children (5-12yrs), summer vacation is associated with accelerated gains in Body Mass Index (BMI). A key behavioral driver of BMI gain is a lack of physical activity (PA). Previous studies indicate PA decreases during summer, compared to the school year but whether this difference is consistent among boys and girls, across age, and by income status remains unclear.

A Comprehensive Planning Framework for Designing Effective Physical Activity Interventions in Youth.

Background: Effective physical activity (PA) interventions are needed to counter the insufficient and declining levels of PA in youth. These require an updated, comprehensive planning framework that consolidates recent decades of progress in promoting PA in young children, children, and adolescents. Effective PA interventions require program planning and conceptual model development that target a coordinated and multilevel set of age-specific PA determinants.

The Association Between Meeting Physical Activity Guidelines and Mental Health Among High-School Students in the United States During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Purpose: Physical activity (PA) is associated with mental health outcomes in high-school students, yet many students do not meet the recommended PA levels. Furthermore, both PA levels and mental health were severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to assess whether the number of PA recommendations students met during the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with their self-reported mental health (including their experiences with stress, anxiety, and depression) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Child and mother characteristics associated with 6-month weight gain for infants and toddlers during 6 to 36 months.

Background: The prevalence of childhood obesity in the U.S. has increased, likely due to decreased physical activity, increased sedentary behaviour and unhealthy diets.

Children's physical activity in family child care homes: Influence of quality status, environment and policy features, and child characteristics.

Background: About half of preschool-age children are not meeting recommendations of 15 min/h of physical activity (PA), and nearly one out of seven children between the ages of 2-5 years are living with obesity. Furthermore, children attending family child care homes (FCCHs), compared with larger child care centers, engage in lower levels of PA and appear to be at a higher risk of obesity. Therefore, examining PA and multi-level factors that influence PA in children who attend FCCHs is essential.

Comparison of raw accelerometry data from ActiGraph, Apple Watch, Garmin, and Fitbit using a mechanical shaker table.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the raw accelerometry output from research-grade and consumer wearable devices compared to accelerations produced by a mechanical shaker table. Raw accelerometry data from a total of 40 devices (i.e.

Determinants of Change in Physical Activity in Children during the Transition from Elementary to High School.

Introduction: Effective public health interventions targeting factors that influence physical activity are urgently needed to reduce the age-related decline in physical activity in youth. The purpose of this study was to identify associations between physical activity and a set of potential influences on physical activity in children as they transition from elementary to high school.

Methods: Participants were 951 children from South Carolina school districts who completed outcome and independent variable measures on at least two time points from the 5th to 11th grades in 2010-2017.

Development and Calibration of a PATCH Device for Monitoring Children's Heart Rate and Acceleration.

Introduction: Current wearables that collect heart rate and acceleration were not designed for children and/or do not allow access to raw signals, making them fundamentally unverifiable. This study describes the creation and calibration of an open-source multichannel platform (PATCH) designed to measure heart rate and acceleration in children ages 3-8 yr.

Methods: Children (N = 63; mean age, 6.

Clustering Patterns of 24-Hour Physical Activity in Children 6-36 Months Old.

Purpose: To determine 24-hour physical activity (PA) clusters in children 6-36 months of age, factors associated with the clusters, and their agreement across time.

Method: A longitudinal study followed 150 infants from South Carolina up to 36 months of age. Measures included 24-hour PA and demographic data.

Policies, Practices, and Environmental Characteristics Among Family Child Care Homes in South Carolina.

Child care program requirements have adopted nutrition and physical activity standards to address childhood obesity, but few studies have examined the effects of these standards in family child care homes (FCCHs). In a cross-sectional study (2017-2019), the Childcare Home Eating and Exercise study examined self-reported provider characteristics and observed policies and practices related to physical activity and nutrition in FCCHs in South Carolina. Two-sample -tests were used to compare observed nutrition and physical activity policy, practice, and environment scores in child care homes that participated in versus did not participate in the state's ABC Quality program, which is designed to improve child care and includes policies and practices intended to increase physical activity levels and improve diet quality.

Association of physical activity, sedentary behavior, diet quality with adiposity: a longitudinal analysis in children categorized by baseline weight status.

Background/objectives: Childhood obesity rates have increased in recent years. The effectiveness of future public health interventions to reduce childhood obesity will be enhanced by a better understanding of behavioral factors that influence adiposity in children as they transition from childhood to adolescence. The purpose of this study was to examine whether initial weight status modifies the longitudinal associations of physical activity, sedentary behavior, and diet quality with changes in adiposity over time.

Household Food Insecurity Is Associated With Physical Activity in Youth and Young Adults With Diabetes: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Physical activity (PA) is essential for optimal diabetes management. Household food insecurity (HFI) may negatively affect diabetes management behaviors. The purpose of this study was to cross-sectionally examine the association between HFI and PA in youth and young adults (YYA) with type 1 (N = 1998) and type 2 (N = 391) diabetes from the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study.

Young Children's Dietary Quality in Family Child Care and in Their Own Home.

Background: Some evidence suggests that children may have higher quality dietary intake in early care and education settings, compared with their respective homes, but no studies have explored these differences among children in less formal family child care.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare dietary quality via the Healthy Eating Index 2015 among children in family child care and in their own home.

Design: This was a cross-sectional analysis of baseline dietary intake data from the Childcare Home Eating and Exercise Research study, a natural experiment, using directly observed dietary data in child care and 24-hour recall data in homes among children in South Carolina.

Factors Associated with Children's Physical Activity During Youth Soccer Practices.

: To identify practice and social contextual factors that associate with physical activity (PA) levels of children during their participation in a youth soccer program. : Twenty-seven youth soccer teams serving children ages 6-11 years participated. Research staff directly observed and recorded PA intensity and practice and social contextual factors using momentary time-sampling procedures.