Effects of a staff physical activity professional development intervention on the preschool movement environment: The Active Learning Norwegian Preschool(er)s (ACTNOW) study

Rich opportunities for movement in preschool are important for children's opportunity to meet the physical activity (PA) guidelines of 180 minutes/day of which 60 min should be of moderate to vigorous intensity for 3–5-year-olds. We examined the effect of a staff PA professional development on preschools' movement environment, and secondary if change in movement environment was associated with change in children's PA, sedentary time or fundamental movement skills. The movement environment was rated during full day observations in departments (n = 44) from all intervention preschools (n = 23) participating in the Active Learning Norwegian Preschool(er)s (ACTNOW) randomized controlled trial using the Movement Environment Rating Scale (MOVERS) at baseline, 7- and 18-month follow-up. Children's PA and sedentary time were measured using accelerometry (n = 99) and movement skills by a modified test battery (n = 109). Linear mixed model regression and multivariate pattern analysis were used to analyse change in MOVERS and associations between change in MOVERS and change in children's PA, sedentary time and fundamental movement skills, respectively. We found that the ACTNOW intervention increased the quality of the movement environment. Increase in MOVERS scores were consistently associated with children's increase in low intensity PA and reduced sedentary time, while associations were inconsistent for other outcomes. Staff PA professional development can increase the quality of the movement environment, and substitute children's sedentary time with PA of low intensity. This is an important finding that should inform policy. More emphasis on approaches to increase children's PA of higher intensities is needed, both in practice and research.