An Environmental Scan of Existing Canadian Childcare Resources Targeting Improvements in Health Behaviours

Valerie Carson; Madison Predy; Stephen Hunter; Kate Storey; Anna P Farmer; Jessie-Lee McIsaac; Jenn Flynn

doi:10.1007/s10643-021-01266-2

An Environmental Scan of Existing Canadian Childcare Resources Targeting Improvements in Health Behaviours

Early Child Educ J. 2022;50(8):1417-1428. doi: 10.1007/s10643-021-01266-2. Epub 2021 Sep 28.

Authors

Valerie Carson¹, Madison Predy¹, Stephen Hunter¹, Kate Storey², Anna P Farmer³, Jessie-Lee McIsaac⁴, Jenn Flynn⁵

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport and Recreation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB Canada.
² School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB Canada.
³ Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB Canada.
⁴ Department of Child and Youth Study, Faculty of Education, Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, NS Canada.
⁵ APPLE Schools, Edmonton, AB Canada.

Abstract

The objective was to conduct an environmental scan of existing Canadian childcare resources targeting nutrition, physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and/or sleep. A comprehensive search plan was conducted that involved four search strategies: (1) grey literature databases, (2) customized Google search engines, (3) targeted websites, and (4) consultation with content experts. A resource (i.e., information, materials) must have been created by government or an organization/agency within Canada, available in English, intended for childcare educators or directors working with children ≤ 5 years of age, and focused on targeting improvements in nutrition, physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and/or sleep. The quality of each included resource was assessed using a modified version of the Authority, Accuracy, Coverage, Objectivity, Date, Significance checklist. A total of 192 eligible resources were included. Most resources targeted only nutrition (n = 101) or physical activity (n = 60), and few resources targeted only sedentary behaviour (n = 2) or sleep (n = 1). The remaining 28 resources targeted more than one health behaviour. The 4 most common topics of resources were menu/meal planning (n = 55), healthy nutrition practices/environment (n = 37), physical activities/games (n = 33), and nutrition/food literacy (n = 20). Only 52 included resources cited evidence. One-third of the included resources (n = 64) were rated as high quality, including 55 that received a point for the significance criterion. Therefore, numerous high quality Canadian childcare resources exist for nutrition and physical activity. Future resource development is needed for sedentary behaviour and sleep. Findings can assist future intervention work and the database of resources can be utilized by relevant stakeholders to support other childcare initiatives.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10643-021-01266-2.

Keywords: Child care; Environmental scan; Nutrition; Physical activity; Sedentary behaviour; Sleep.

Publication types

Review