Abstract
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Introduction: The benefits of regular physical activity
for children are significant. Previous research has
addressed the quantity and quality of children’s
physical activity while in early childhood education and
care (ECEC) settings, yet little research has investigated
the social and physical environmental influences on
physical activity in these settings. The outcomes of this
study will be to measure these social and physical
environmental influences on children’s physical activity
using a combination of a real-time location system
(RTLS) (a closed system that tracks the location of
movement of participants via readers and tags),
accelerometry and direct observation.
Methods and analysis: This study is the first of its
kind to combine RTLSs and accelerometer data in
ECEC settings. It is a cross-sectional study involving
∼100 educators and 500 children from 11 ECEC
settings in the Illawarra region of New South Wales,
Australia. A RTLS and Actigraph GT3X+
accelerometers will be concurrently used to measure
the level and location of the children’s and educators’
physical activity while in outside environments.
Children and educators will wear accelerometers on
their hip that record triaxial acceleration data at
100 Hz. Children and educators will also wear a tag
watch on their wrist that transmits a signal to anchors
of the RTLS and the triangulation of signals will
identify their specific location. In addition to these, up
to three random periods (10–25 min in length) will be
used to collect observational data each day and
assessed with the classroom assessment and scoring
system to measure the quality of interactions. In
conjunction with the real-time location system (RTLS)
and accelerometers, these observations will measure
the relationship between the quality of interactions and
children’s physical activity.
Ethics and dissemination: The results of this study
will be disseminated through peer-reviewed
publications and presentations. Ethical approval was
obtained through the University of Wollongong Human
Research Ethics Committee (HE14/330).