Health · Medical Research · 1 hr ago
Australian trial finds no clear overall effect from childcare active-play program
Researchers tested the Activated OSHC program in before- and after-school care services in Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales.
These services care for children outside school hours, and nearly one in four Australian primary school children attends them each week.
The program offered staff online training and voluntary accreditation to help services follow guidelines for physical activity and recreational screen time.
The guidelines call for at least 45 minutes of activity before school and 90 minutes after school, with limits on recreational screen time.
The trial assigned 101 services to the program and 96 to usual care; 182 services completed the study, covering about 10,000 children.
Overall, the researchers found no statistically significant difference in the share of services meeting all guidelines after three or 12 months.
The study also compared services that met the program’s accreditation requirements with control services, but the available findings do not state the results of that comparison.
An Australian trial of 197 outside-school-hours care services found no statistically significant difference in guideline adherence between intervention and control groups in its intention-to-treat analyses.
The trial tested whether staff training and voluntary accreditation could help services manage recreational screen time and provide physical activity.
The services cared for about 10,000 children across Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales.
The Activated OSHC program offered online training and assessed services’ policies against national guidelines.
- Who
- Researchers studied 197 outside-school-hours care services.
- What
- The trial tested a staff-training and voluntary-accreditation program for screen time and physical activity. Intention-to-treat analyses found no statistically significant difference in guideline adherence.
- When
- The trial ran from August 2022 to December 2024.
- Where
- Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales.
- Why
- The program aimed to help services put national screen time and physical activity guidelines into practice.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
No direct quotes in the coverage so far.
The trial began.
Researchers assessed service outcomes.
Researchers assessed service outcomes and whether intervention services had achieved accreditation.
The trial ended.
- Services randomized
- 101 intervention; 96 control
- Services completing study
- 182
- Children served
- About 10,000
- Intervention uptake
- 80% of intervention services registered on the program website
- Accredited services
- 48 intervention services met the policy and training requirements within 12 months
Sources
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