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Table 4 Prevalence and content of childcare center physical activity and screen-viewing policies

From: Physical activity and screen-viewing policies in Canadian childcare centers

Does your center have a policy or general practice that pertains specifically to

Yes, written policy

N (%)

Yes, not written policy but general practice

N (%)

No

N (%)

The amount of physical activity time for children

295 (44.1)

304 (45.4)

70 (10.5)

The amount of active play time for children

230 (36.5)

323 (51.3)

77 (12.2)

The amount of teacher-led active play time

101 (16.0)

329 (52.1)

202 (32.0)

The amount of time children spend outdoors each day

395 (63.0)

197 (31.4)

35 (5.6)

Appropriate clothing & shoes needed for outdoor play

436 (67.5)

174 (26.9)

36 (5.6)

Staff behavior during outdoor play time

289 (46.3)

255 (40.9)

80 (12.8)

Giving extra inside active play time as a reward

23 (3.7)

112 (17.9)

492 (78.5)

Not taking away inside active play time as a punishment

99 (15.9)

134 (21.5)

389 (62.5)

Giving extra outside play time as a reward

20 (3.2)

125 (20.1)

477 (76.7)

Not taking away outside play time as a punishment

90 (14.5)

134 (21.6)

396 (63.9)

The size of indoor active play space

171 (28.5)

185 (30.9)

243 (40.6)

The type of indoor active play space

122 (21.1)

201 (34.8)

255 (44.1)

The amount of fixed play equipment (i.e., climbers, jungle gym)

88 (14.6)

166 (27.5)

350 (57.9)

The type (i.e., climbers, jungle gym) of fixed play equipment

70 (12.2)

168 (29.2)

337 (58.6)

The amount of portable play equipment (i.e., balls, push/pull toys)

99 (16.7)

259 (43.7)

235 (39.6)

The type (i.e., balls, push/pull toys) of portable play equipment

80 (14.4)

229 (41.3)

245 (44.2)

The size of outdoor active play space

226 (40.1)

167 (29.7)

170 (30.2)

The type of outdoor active play space

139 (25.6)

172 (31.7)

231 (42.6)

The amount of time children can watch television/video each day

178 (29.3)

152 (25.0)

277 (45.6)

The type of television/video programming children are allowed to watch

135 (22.9)

141 (23.9)

313 (53.1)

The amount of time staff can spend watching television/video

79 (13.4)

104 (17.7)

406 (68.9)

The amount of time children spend working on the computer/iPad

110 (18.3)

161 (26.8)

329 (54.8)

The amount of time staff spend working on the computer/iPad

90 (15.1)

190 (31.8)

317 (53.1)

The amount of time children can play video games

94 (15.9)

114 (19.2)

385 (64.9)

The amount of time staff can play video games

69 (11.8)

92 (15.8)

423 (72.4)

Staff supervision of children’s media (e.g., television, computer, video, etc.) use

108 (18.6)

158 (27.1)

316 (54.3)

The use of media (e.g., television, computer, video, etc.) as a reward/ punishment for children

43 (7.3)

89 (15.2)

454 (77.5)

Physical activity education for children

91 (15.5)

212 (36.2)

283 (48.3)

Physical activity training for staff

55 (9.3)

193 (32.6)

344 (58.1)

Physical activity education for parents

29 (5.0)

113 (19.3)

442 (75.7)

  1. Note: Some values shown in the table may not add up to 100% or n = 1290 as some participants chose not to answer certain questions; bolded questions indicate questions that have been qualitatively analyzed (see Tables 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10). These questions were adapted, with permission, from the Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation Self-Report tool (EPAO-SR; [21])