Feasibility of increasing childhood outdoor play and decreasing television viewing through a family-based intervention in WIC, New York State, 2007-2008

• Published in: Preventing chronic disease Vol. 8; no. 3; p. A54
• Main Authors: Davison, Kirsten K, Edmunds, Lynn S, Wyker, Brett A, Young, Laurie M, Sarfoh, Vanessa S, Sekhobo, Jackson P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 01.05.2011
• Series: Peer Reviewed
• Subjects: Adult; child health; Child, Preschool; decreasing television viewing; Exercise; Family-Based Intervention; Feasibility Studies; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Health Promotion; Humans; increasing childhood outdoor play; Male; Maternal-Child Health Centers - statistics & numerical data; New York; Nutrition Policy; Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Original Research; Play and Playthings; Television - statistics & numerical data; WIC; Young Adult; New York
• ISSN: 1545-1151; 1545-1151

Active Families is a program developed to increase outdoor play and decrease television viewing among preschool-aged children enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Our objective was to assess its feasibility and efficacy. We implemented Active Families in a large WIC clinic in New York State for 1 year. To this end, we incorporated into WIC nutrition counseling sessions a community resource guide with maps showing recreational venues. Outcome measures were children's television viewing and time playing outdoors and parents' behaviors (television viewing, physical activity), self-efficacy to influence children's behaviors, and parenting practices specific to television viewing. We used a nonpaired pretest and posttest design to evaluate the intervention, drawing on comparison data from 3 matched WIC agencies. Compared with the children at baseline, the children at follow-up were more likely to watch television less than 2 hours per day and play outdoors for at least 60 minutes per day. Additionally, parents reported higher self-efficacy to limit children's television viewing and were more likely to meet physical activity recommendations and watch television less than 2 hours per day. Results suggest that it is feasible to foster increased outdoor play and reduced television viewing among WIC-enrolled children by incorporating a community resource guide into WIC nutrition counseling sessions. Future research should test the intervention with a stronger evaluation design in multiple settings, with more diverse WIC populations, and by using more objective outcome measures of child behaviors.