The Impact of COVID-19 on Eating Environments and Activity in Early Childhood Education and Care in Alberta, Canada: A Cross-Sectional Study
Early childhood education and care (ECEC) environments influence children’s early development and habits that track across a lifespan. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of COVID-19 government-mandated guidelines on physical activity (PA) and eating environments in ECEC settings. Th...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-11-01
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| Series: | Nutrients |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/12/4247 |
| _version_ | 1797501832706129920 |
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| author | Lynne M. Z. Lafave Alexis D. Webster Ceilidh McConnell Nadine Van Wyk Mark R. Lafave |
| author_facet | Lynne M. Z. Lafave Alexis D. Webster Ceilidh McConnell Nadine Van Wyk Mark R. Lafave |
| author_sort | Lynne M. Z. Lafave |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Early childhood education and care (ECEC) environments influence children’s early development and habits that track across a lifespan. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of COVID-19 government-mandated guidelines on physical activity (PA) and eating environments in ECEC settings. This cross-sectional study involved the recruitment of 19 ECEC centers pre-COVID (2019) and 15 ECEC centers during COVID (2020) in Alberta, Canada (<i>n</i> = 34 ECEC centers; <i>n</i> = 83 educators; <i>n</i> = 361 preschoolers). Educators completed the CHEERS (Creating Healthy Eating and activity Environments Survey) and MEQ (Mindful Eating Questionnaire) self-audit tools while GT3X+ ActiGraph accelerometers measured preschooler PA. The CHEERS healthy eating environment subscale was greater during COVID-19 (5.97 ± 0.52; 5.80 ± 0.62; <i>p</i> = 0.02) and the overall score positively correlated with the MEQ score (<i>r</i> = 0.20; <i>p</i> = 0.002). Preschoolers exhibited greater hourly step counts (800 ± 189; 649 ± 185), moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) (9.3 ± 3.0 min/h; 7.9 ± 3.2 min/h) and lower sedentary times (42.4 ± 3.9 min/h; 44.1 ± 4.9 min/h) during COVID-19 compared to pre-COVID, respectively (<i>p</i> < 0.05). These findings suggest the eating environment and indices of child physical activity were better in 2020, which could possibly be attributed to a change in government-mandated COVID-19 guideline policy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:24:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3daeec447f234b17a54608cec15899cb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-6643 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:24:17Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nutrients |
| spelling | doaj.art-3daeec447f234b17a54608cec15899cb2023-11-23T09:55:02ZengMDPI AGNutrients2072-66432021-11-011312424710.3390/nu13124247The Impact of COVID-19 on Eating Environments and Activity in Early Childhood Education and Care in Alberta, Canada: A Cross-Sectional StudyLynne M. Z. Lafave0Alexis D. Webster1Ceilidh McConnell2Nadine Van Wyk3Mark R. Lafave4Department of Health and Physical Education, Mount Royal University, Calgary, AB T3E 6K6, CanadaDepartment of Health and Physical Education, Mount Royal University, Calgary, AB T3E 6K6, CanadaDepartment of Health and Physical Education, Mount Royal University, Calgary, AB T3E 6K6, CanadaDepartment of Health and Physical Education, Mount Royal University, Calgary, AB T3E 6K6, CanadaDepartment of Health and Physical Education, Mount Royal University, Calgary, AB T3E 6K6, CanadaEarly childhood education and care (ECEC) environments influence children’s early development and habits that track across a lifespan. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of COVID-19 government-mandated guidelines on physical activity (PA) and eating environments in ECEC settings. This cross-sectional study involved the recruitment of 19 ECEC centers pre-COVID (2019) and 15 ECEC centers during COVID (2020) in Alberta, Canada (<i>n</i> = 34 ECEC centers; <i>n</i> = 83 educators; <i>n</i> = 361 preschoolers). Educators completed the CHEERS (Creating Healthy Eating and activity Environments Survey) and MEQ (Mindful Eating Questionnaire) self-audit tools while GT3X+ ActiGraph accelerometers measured preschooler PA. The CHEERS healthy eating environment subscale was greater during COVID-19 (5.97 ± 0.52; 5.80 ± 0.62; <i>p</i> = 0.02) and the overall score positively correlated with the MEQ score (<i>r</i> = 0.20; <i>p</i> = 0.002). Preschoolers exhibited greater hourly step counts (800 ± 189; 649 ± 185), moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) (9.3 ± 3.0 min/h; 7.9 ± 3.2 min/h) and lower sedentary times (42.4 ± 3.9 min/h; 44.1 ± 4.9 min/h) during COVID-19 compared to pre-COVID, respectively (<i>p</i> < 0.05). These findings suggest the eating environment and indices of child physical activity were better in 2020, which could possibly be attributed to a change in government-mandated COVID-19 guideline policy.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/12/4247healthy eatingnutritionCOVID-19early childhood education and carepreschoolerchildcare |
| spellingShingle | Lynne M. Z. Lafave Alexis D. Webster Ceilidh McConnell Nadine Van Wyk Mark R. Lafave The Impact of COVID-19 on Eating Environments and Activity in Early Childhood Education and Care in Alberta, Canada: A Cross-Sectional Study Nutrients healthy eating nutrition COVID-19 early childhood education and care preschooler childcare |
| title | The Impact of COVID-19 on Eating Environments and Activity in Early Childhood Education and Care in Alberta, Canada: A Cross-Sectional Study |
| title_full | The Impact of COVID-19 on Eating Environments and Activity in Early Childhood Education and Care in Alberta, Canada: A Cross-Sectional Study |
| title_fullStr | The Impact of COVID-19 on Eating Environments and Activity in Early Childhood Education and Care in Alberta, Canada: A Cross-Sectional Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Impact of COVID-19 on Eating Environments and Activity in Early Childhood Education and Care in Alberta, Canada: A Cross-Sectional Study |
| title_short | The Impact of COVID-19 on Eating Environments and Activity in Early Childhood Education and Care in Alberta, Canada: A Cross-Sectional Study |
| title_sort | impact of covid 19 on eating environments and activity in early childhood education and care in alberta canada a cross sectional study |
| topic | healthy eating nutrition COVID-19 early childhood education and care preschooler childcare |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/12/4247 |
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