Associations between the movement environment and preschooler's physical activity and sedentary time in Norwegian preschools

Abstract

The quality of the preschool environment may affect preschooler's levels of physical activity and sedentary time. In this paper, we aimed to assess the quality of the preschool movement environment and associations between the movement environment and children's physical activity and sedentary time in Norwegian preschools. A sample of 71 departments within 46 preschools provided data on the Movement Environment Rating Scale (MOVERS). 794 children aged 3–5 years provided accelerometer data (ActiGraph GT3X+). Associations were examined using multivariate pattern analysis. Our results indicate that the movement environment is of minimal quality in Norwegian preschools. We found positive associations for light and moderate intensity physical activity and negative associations for sedentary time with the overall MOVERS score, as well as for several items and sub-scales. Our findings suggest that higher quality of the preschool movement environment is associated with more movement and less sedentary time.