Clinician and early childhood educator knowledge and advice given to parents regarding physical activity, screen time and sleep. An observational study

Abstract

Background: Global guidelines regarding infant physical activity, screen time and sleep were released by the World Health Organisation in 2019. Clinician and Early Childhood Educator's knowledge and advice given to parents regarding this content is unknown. The aims of this study were to determine the advice given to parents regarding infant care. This will enable a baseline from which future interventions and multidisciplinary professional development can be compared and reviewed.

Methods: 80 Clinicians (Medical, Nursing, Allied Health) and Early Childhood Educators from a local health district in NSW Australia completed an online survey. Medical records (N = 272) were also reviewed to determine if the documentation included advice in accordance with guidelines.

Findings: Staff were aware that infant guidelines contributes to positive health outcomes (all >85%). Nursing entered the most information into the medical record with >80% of files containing general advice about infant physical activity and sleep. Only 30% of entries contained evidence of guideline specific information. Minimal entries from all clinicians contained information about screen time (2%).

Discussion: The majority of clinicians and Early Childhood Educators were aware of the content of the guidelines and the advice they report to provide is consistent. Medical record documentation regarding the specificity of advice provided is lacking.

Application to practice: This study provides a baseline from which professional development interventions aimed at increasing compliance to infant guidelines can be compared.

Keywords: Early childhood; Infant; Physical activity.