Research Article

Childcare Correlates of Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Adiposity in Preschool Children: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the SPLASHY Study

Table 1

Potential childcare correlates of physical activity, sedentary behavior, and adiposity.

CorrelatesSourceDescriptionMean (SD) or %

(1) Demographic-biological
 Age (years)Parental reportChild’s age in years3.9 (0.7)
 Sex (% male)Parental reportChild’s sex53
 Sociocultural region (% German)Regional location of the CCGerman or French speaking region of Switzerland74
 CC SES (% high)Swiss neighbourhood indexSocioeconomic status of the community of the CC67
 CC rural/urban (% urban)Location of the CCUrban defined as biggest cities of each canton and cities > 100,000 inhabitants60

(2) Psychological-cognitive-emotional
 Staff supportDirect observation by research staffStaff support for children in finding solutions to problems: Scale 1–5 increasing with more support4.2 (0.7)
 Child-initiated interactionSDQ questionnaire
Subscale: peer relationship problems
Child goes toward other children: Likert’s scale 0–4 increases with child going more toward other children3.2 (0.8)
 Playing peersCC questionnaireN of peers the child plays with during CC4.5 (3.9)

(3) Behavioral
Eating behavior
 Interest in foodCEBQ questionnaire
Subscale: enjoyment of food
Child’s interest in food: Likert’s scale 0–4 increases with child’s interest in food3.0 (0.8)
 Eating when upsetCEBQ questionnaire
Subscale: emotional overeating
Child eating more when upset: Likert’s scale 0–4 increases with child eating more when upset0.2 (0.4)
 Leaving food on the plateCEBQ questionnaire
Subscale: satiety responsiveness
Child leaving food on the plate after meals: Likert’s scale 0–4 increases with child leaving food on plate1.7 (0.9)

(4) Sociocultural
Organisational policies
Mixing different agesCC questionnaireN of different age classes within a CC group4.2 (1.3)
PA policies
 Staff participation in PANAP SACC questionnaire
Subscale: PA
Staff participation during free PA: Likert’s scale 0–3 increases with more staff participation2.0 (0.7)
 Staff PA trainingNAP SACC questionnaire
Subscale: PA
N of staff members with PA training and education0.6 (1.1)
 Written PA policy (% yes)NAP SACC questionnaire
Subscale: PA
Presence of a written policy for promoting PA68
 Daily PA (%)NAP SACC questionnaire
Subscale: PA
Time dedicated to daily PA per CC
<30 minutes2
31–60 minutes25
61–90 minutes20
> 90 minutes53
 Daily structured PA (min)NAP SACC questionnaire
Subscale: PA
Time in minutes dedicated to daily structured PA30.8 (25.1)
 Parental PA involvement  (% yes)CC questionnaireParental involvement in PA projects set up by the CC48
Nutritional policies
 Staff nutrition trainingNAP SACC questionnaire
Subscale: nutrition
N of staff members with children nutritional training and education1.5 (0.9)
 Staff food encouragementNAP SACC questionnaire
Subscale: nutrition
Staff encouraging children to health all kind of healthy foods: Likert’s scale 1–4 increases with more encouragement from staff3.8 (0.5)
 Children self-serviceNAP SACC questionnaire
Subscale: nutrition
Children serve themselves without any help from staff: Likert’s scale 1–4 increases with more food self-service from children3.1 (0.9)
 Clean plateNAP SACC questionnaire
Subscale: nutrition
Children are encouraged to finish their plate: Likert’s scale 1–4 increases with more encouragement from staff to finish their plate1.7 (1.0)
 Fruits availabilityNAP SACC questionnaire
Subscale: nutrition
Frequency of fruits availability in CC: Likert’s scale 1–4 increases with more fruits availability3.8 (0.4)
 Vegetables availabilityNAP SACC questionnaire
Subscale: nutrition
Frequency of vegetables availability in CC: Likert’s scale 1–4 increases with more vegetables availability3.4 (0.5)
 Sweet drinks availabilityNAP SACC questionnaire
Subscale: nutrition
Frequency of sweet drinks availability in CC: Likert’s scale 0–3 increases with more sweets drinks availability0.1 (0.4)
 Juices availabilityNAP SACC questionnaire
Subscale: nutrition
Frequency of juices availability in CC: Likert’s scale 0–3 increases with more juices availability0.7 (1.1)
 Water availabilityNAP SACC questionnaire Subscale: NutritionAvailability of drinking water in CC: Likert’s scale 0–3 increases with more water being freely available2.9 (0.4)
 Using food as rewardNAP SACC questionnaire
Subscale: nutrition
Food is used to reward desired behavior: Likert’s scale 0–3 increases with more food reward0.1 (0.3)
 Using food as regulatorNAP SACC questionnaire
Subscale: nutrition
Food is used to control behavior or as punishment: Likert’s scale 0–3 increases with more often food used to control behavior0.1 (0.3)

(5) Physical environment
 CC surfaceCC questionnaireRatio of the CC surface (m2) per number of children7.0 (5.1)
 CC attendanceParental reportN of full days child attending CC per week2.8 (1.2)
PA
 PA indoor space (% yes)NAP SACC questionnaire
Subscale: PA
Presence of indoor space dedicated for PA80
 PA outdoor space (% yes)NAP SACC questionnaire
Subscale: PA
Presence of outdoor space dedicated for PA91
 Fixed PA equipmentNAP SACC questionnaire
Subscale: PA
N of fixed equipment related to PA2.9 (2.5)
 Mobile PA equipmentNAP SACC questionnaire
Subscale: PA
N of mobile equipment related to PA18.9 (19.8)

N = number; CC = childcare; SES = socioeconomic status; SDQ = strength and difficulties questionnaire; CEBQ = child eating behavior questionnaire; PA = physical activity; NAP SACC = nutrition and physical activity self-assessment for childcare; = correlates included in the models with adiposity as outcome. We used a modified version of the NAP SACC questionnaire.