Active Play in After School Programs

NCT ID: NCT02954614

Last Updated: 2018-09-25

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 456 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2016-05-31
• Study Completion Date: 2018-05-31

Brief Summary

Background: Physical activity (PA) is a key component in health promotion and prevention of overweight. Interventions delivered in after-school programs (ASP) have the potential to become a means of ensuring PA among young schoolchildren. This requires a motivational climate, allowing for self-determination and the intrinsic values of the activity, on the activity's character of play. ASP staff could be trained in stimulating all children in physical activities in their everyday life. Physiotherapists in primary care possess knowledge of motor development and learning, and are important contributors to an ASP-based physical activity intervention.

Aim: To develop a complex intervention that emphasizes physical activity play, and to examine through a cluster-randomized trial the extent to which the intervention promotes PA and health-related quality of life and prevents overweight in a population of young children. We aim to increase the knowledge and autonomy supportive skills among ASP staff members, enabling them to promote physical activity through play among all first graders in ASP.

In addition to investigate if the children benefit from receiving autonomy support, we aim to study whether the ASP staff themselves benefit from giving autonomy support in terms of increased need satisfaction and autonomous motivation for work.

The intervention: Includes training of ASP-staff members in the fundamental principles of self-determination theory and practical applications for motivating young children in PA through play. Information will be given on the benefits of a physically active lifestyle and the staff will be encouraged to map opportunities for PA in their local ASP and to incorporate strategies to increase PA through play among the children throughout the day.

Methods/design: A complex intervention using a mixed methods approach will be developed and evaluated. A pilot trial will assess the potential of this approach and provide information necessary to perform a cluster-randomized controlled trial (RCT). The cluster-randomized controlled trial (RCT) will together with qualitative interviews and observations, evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. Outcomes will be measured at baseline (September /October 2016) at the end of the intervention which lasts for 7 months (May 2017), and 1 year after the end of the intervention (May 2018)

Conditions

Physical Activity; Activity Play; Motor Activity; Quality of Life; Autonomy; Competence; Children; After-School Program

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Intervention group

Active play in after school programs (ASP). Training program for ASP staff.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Active play in after school programs (ASP)

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

• A 15 hour training-program for ASP-staff aimed to increase active play and physical activity among children in ASPs. The program includes lectures, guided discussions and practical tasks focusing on increasing the staffs competence in how to support active play and PA among all children in the ASP
• A 8 hour course for local physiotherapists enabling them to guide ASP-staff during parts of the intervention period

Control group

ASP as usual.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Active play in after school programs (ASP)

• A 15 hour training-program for ASP-staff aimed to increase active play and physical activity among children in ASPs. The program includes lectures, guided discussions and practical tasks focusing on increasing the staffs competence in how to support active play and PA among all children in the ASP
• A 8 hour course for local physiotherapists enabling them to guide ASP-staff during parts of the intervention period

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Attends first grade in one of the ASPs included

Exclusion Criteria

• Does not attend first grade in one of the ASPs included

• Minimum Eligible Age: 5 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 6 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Norwegian Fund for Postgraduate Training in Physiotherapy

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Oslo Metropolitan University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Kirsti Riiser

Phd

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Kirsti Riiser, Phd

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Oslo Metropolitan University

References

Riiser K, Richardsen KR, Haugen ALH, Lund S, Londal K. Active play in ASP -a matched-pair cluster-randomized trial investigating the effectiveness of an intervention in after-school programs for supporting children's physical activity. BMC Public Health. 2020 Apr 15;20(1):500. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-08645-1.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 32295569 (View on PubMed)

Riiser K, Helseth S, Ellingsen H, Fallang B, Londal K. Active Play in After-school Programmes: development of an intervention and description of a matched-pair cluster-randomised trial assessing physical activity play in after-school programmes. BMJ Open. 2017 Aug 4;7(8):e016585. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-016585.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 28780558 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

46008

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id