March 9, 2010
While new data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) suggests that the childhood obesity epidemic may have hit a plateau, the fact remains that in 2008, 14.6 percent of low-income children from ages 2 to 4 were obese. Obesity at such young ages has been linked to less physical activity, thus perpetuating unhealthy weight and inactivity status into adulthood. While obesity levels have been rising, the number of children enrolled in preschool programs has also been steadily increasing. Researchers and advocates have proposed that preschools might be an appropriate place for preventive health measures, particularly activities that increase young children’s physical activity. Enter the Children’s Activity and Movement in Preschools Study (CHAMPS).
CHAMPS studied preschool children enrolled in 24 preschools in an urban area of South Carolina, with the aim of learning how much and in what context preschoolers were engaging in physical activity. Preschools in the study were child care centers, faith-based preschools, and Head Start programs, and children were all between 3 and 5 years old. Of the more than 450 children participating in the study, roughly half were males and half were African Americans.
Children were observed during the preschool hours, both indoor and outdoors, and their levels of physical activity were recorded by trained observers. Physical activity levels were: motionless, stationary with limb or trunk movement, light activity, moderate activity, and vigorous activity.
The researchers found that children engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during only 3.4 percent of the preschool day. They also found that 4- and 5-year-olds were less physically active than 3-year-olds, and males were more active than females. In addition, the study found that children in higher quality preschools were more likely to engage in physical activity than children in programs of lower quality.
While spending more time indoors, children were more likely to engage in physical activity when outdoors. The five most common outdoor activities involved open space, fixed equipment, ball and object use, socio-dramatic props, and wheel toys. The first three conditions are associated with high levels of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The other two are also associated with MVPA at lower levels. Read the rest of this entry »
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Child Development, Early Childhood, Health Education, Preschool | 
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Posted by NIEER
November 13, 2009
Worldwide, a huge source of human potential is lost as children grow up without the benefit of effective investments in their early development. More than 200 million children under 5 years of age are not reaching their full mental, physical, and social developmental potential, says a recent report from The Open University based in the United Kingdom.
Many people associate early interventions to support child development with preschool education. That is only a part of the story in countries where problems like growth stunting, hunger, disease and extreme poverty necessitate early investments that focus on directly improving nutrition and health as well as care and education. With wide variations in the approaches to investments in early development and in children’s environments in the international arena, policy makers around the globe are asking, “How effective are the various programs in improving the development of children and does this vary across countries with very different economic conditions?”
To help answer that, NIEER recently conducted a meta-analysis of studies that looked at 30 interventions with varying approaches in 23 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. What NIEER found is encouraging: Regardless of the type of program, all had moderate positive effects in all domains of child development. The size of the long-term effects is similar to that found in a comprehensive meta-analysis of the U.S. studies. On average, they were about one-quarter to one-third of a standard deviation, with cognitive effects at the higher end, which translates to a gain of about 5 points on an IQ test. Studies that evaluated effects at older ages showed positive effects being sustained through adulthood.
Policymakers want answers to questions like what types of programs are most cost-effective, whether single-focus or combined-focus programs are best, and what treatment dosage is likely to yield the greatest gain in a given set of circumstances. While many of those answers will require further research, our findings shed some light. Interventions providing direct child care and education were more effective than other types of programs, particularly in terms of cognition. Interventions that combined education and care with attention to nutrition or health were more effective than cash transfer programs that gave money to parents in order to achieve a goal such as making sure kids get medical attention or programs that were solely nutritional in nature. Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments | Behavioral Development, Brain Development, Child Development, Health, Preschool | Permalink
Posted by NIEER
August 28, 2009
Senator Kennedy leaves behind a towering legacy of fighting for children’s healthy development: “Were it not for Kennedy’s unwavering commitment to improving the lot of young children, we likely would have far less federal support for young children’s development across the board,” said NIEER Co-Director Steve Barnett.
Which leaves us all with the question: Where do we go from here? How can the vacuum in children’s advocacy be filled?
Read Sen. Kennedy’s Newsmaker interview with Preschool Matters earlier this year.
1 Comment | Child Care, Child Development, Head Start programs, Preschool | Permalink
Posted by NIEER
August 17, 2009
A fascinating piece in yesterday’s New York Times Magazine by Berkeley psychologist Alison Gopnik details recent studies showing that not only do children possess powerful learning abilities at very young ages but by their preschool years, they are capable of using probabilities to learn how things work. Findings such as these need to be cast in the context of how young children learn and Gopnik does an admirable job of pointing out the differences between optimal learning environments for young children and the goal-oriented environments kids encounter later in school.
Two recent NIEER briefs address points brought up by Gopnik’s piece. “Connecting Neurons, Concepts, and People: Brain Development and its Implications” summarizes what science tells us about young children’s brain development and corrects some of the common misunderstandings about it. “Math and Science in Preschool: Policies and Practice” reviews the research addressing development of math and science in preschool and makes recommendations for early education policy in these domains. Research by Gopnik, NIEER Scientific Advisory Board member Rochel Gelman and others is at least partly responsible for the recent emphasis on math and science in early education.
Leave a Comment » | Brain Development, Child Development, Mathematics Education, Science Education | Permalink
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