The aim of this study is to determine the effect of the developed program on screen usage time and physical activity for pre-school children.
The "Screen-to-Move-Program" (STEP), developed on the basis of Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), is aimed to reduce screen usage time and increase physical activity in pre-school children. In this study, it was aimed to increase children's physical activity and decrease screen usage times with a 6 session intervention program based on SCT, which includes children and parents. The effectiveness of the program will be evaluated with the pre-test, post-test and 3rd month follow-up test.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
188
It is planned as 6 sessions, 1 session per week for children and parents. The program will be introduced to children and parents under the call with "Screen-to-Move-Program (STEP)".
Marmara University
Istanbul, Turkey (Türkiye)
Decreasing screen time of children in the experimental group
Children's screen usage time will be evaluated with questions. "How long (…hours…..minutes) on average did your child use any device with an electronic screen, such as a smartphone, tablet, video game, or watch television, movies, video games in a day?". Daily screen usage time will be evaluated in minutes. A maximum of 60 minutes of screen time is recommended for pre-school children (World Health Organization, 2019).
Time frame: Change in screen usage time within 3 months
Increasing physical activity level of children in the experimental group
Children's physical activity levels; Item 1: "How long is your child active on average in a day? (e.g. walking slowly, making the bed etc.)" and Item 2:"How long does your child do physical activity in a day, on average, until he is out of breath?" (walking fast, cycling, running, playing ball games, swimming, dancing, etc.) will be evaluated based on parent self-report. The total daily (Item1 + Item2) physical activity time will be evaluated in minutes. A minimum of 180 minutes of physical activity is recommended for pre-school children (World Health Organization, 2019).
Time frame: Change in physical activity level within 3 months
Increasing number of steps for the children in the experimental group
Pre-school children's daily step count will be measured with the OMRON HJ-109-E pedometer. In our study, the number of steps for children aged 3-5 will be evaluated as 11,500 steps, which is stated to correspond to the 180 minutes physical activity target recommended by the World Health Organization for children aged 3-5 (De Craemer et al., 2015; World Health Organization, 2019).
Time frame: Change in number of steps within 3 months
Increasing knowledge score of parents in the experimental group
The information form was created by researchers in line with the literature (World Health Organization, 2019). The form contains information about the PA, screen usage time and sleep duration of the children of parents who have children between the ages of 2-5 and consists of 14 questions. For each item, the correct option is scored as 1, and the incorrect and I don't know option is scored as 0. The total score obtained by collecting the items varies between 0-14 points. A high score indicates a high level of knowledge.
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Time frame: Change in knowledge score of parents within 3 months
Increase in the attitude score of the parents in the experimental group
Parents' attitudes towards their children's screen time were evaluated with an eight-item questionnaire developed by Zimmerman et al. in 2007. The questionnaire is in a five-point Likert type, ranging from strongly agree (1) to strongly disagree (5). High scores on the survey reflect more positive attitudes. The questionnaire has been used in many studies before and has a high reliability with the cronbach alpha value of .84 (Carson \& Janssen, 2012; Mansor et al., 2021; Raj et al., 2022).
Time frame: Change in parents' attitudes within 3 months
Increasing self-efficacy score of parents in the experimental group
Self-efficacy will be measured separately to reduce screen time and increase physical activity. Parents' self-efficacy in reducing their children's screen time: "How confident are you that you can say no to your child's request to participate in screen time (TV/computer/tablet/video games)?" It will be assessed on a 5-point scale ranging from 'not at all sure' to 'very sure' (Carson \& Janssen, 2012). The parent's self-efficacy in influencing the child's physical activity reflects the parent's level of confidence in situations related to the child's physical activity. The questionnaire developed in 2010 has a single factor structure and high reliability (α= 0.88). The eight-question survey (For example: How confident are you that your child will do physical activity even if you do not have much time) is a five-point Likert type ranging from I do not trust myself (1) to I am very confident (5). High scores on the questionnaire reflect higher self-efficacy (Smith et al., 2010).
Time frame: Change in self-efficacy score of parents within 3 months