Levels, factors and interventions of preschool children physical activity: A systematic review

Abstract

The goal of this study was to complete a systematic review of research on the occurrence the levels of physical activity (PA), forms of intervention and factors associated with this practice among preschool children. Studies published in the period between 2006 and 2016 were investi-gated, using the PubMed and SPORTDiscus data-bases. The search terms identified 177 articles, of which 41 met the inclusion criteria. Goals, meth-odologies and results were analysed. The studies used various cut-off points to establish the desired level of PA, along with different types of inter-ventions. Overall, the problem of low level of PA among preschool children appears to be increas-ing. Involvement and participation of parents and teachers, guidance from booklets and other infor-mation sources, parent instruction and availabil-ity of extracurricular activities were considered positive factors that tended to increase children’s PA levels, whereas parental obesity was a negative factor. New studies to define sedentary behaviour in preschool children are required to clarify the nature of this problem, along with the establish-ment of prevention programmes with ecological design aimed at schools, families and other sectors of society.