Show simple item record

dc.contributor.authorPiek, Jan
dc.contributor.authorStraker, Leon
dc.contributor.authorJensen, Lynn
dc.contributor.authorDender, Alma
dc.contributor.authorBarrett, Nicholas
dc.contributor.authorMcLaren, Sue
dc.contributor.authorRoberts, Clare
dc.contributor.authorReid, Carly
dc.contributor.authorRooney, Rosanna
dc.contributor.authorPacker, Tanya
dc.contributor.authorBradbury, Greer
dc.contributor.authorElsley, S
dc.date.accessioned2017-01-30T13:59:28Z
dc.date.available2017-01-30T13:59:28Z
dc.date.created2015-03-03T20:14:30Z
dc.date.issued2010
dc.identifier.citationPiek, J. and Straker, L. and Jensen, L. and Dender, A. and Barrett, N. and McLaren, S. and Roberts, C. et al. 2010. Rationale, design and methods for a randomised and controlled trial to evaluate "Animal Fun" - a program designed to enhance physical and mental health in young children. BMC Pediatrics. 10 (78).
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/37073
dc.description.abstract

Background: Children with poor motor ability have been found to engage less in physical activities than other children, and a lack of physical activity has been linked to problems such as obesity, lowered bone mineral density and cardiovascular risk factors. Furthermore, if children are confident with their fine and gross motor skills, they are more likely to engage in physical activities such as sports, crafts, dancing and other physical activity programs outside of the school curriculum which are important activities for psychosocial development. The primary objective of this project is to comprehensively evaluate a whole of class physical activity program called Animal Fun designed for Pre-Primary children. This program was designed to improve the child's movement skills, both fine and gross, and their perceptions of their movement ability, promote appropriate social skills and improve social-emotional development. Methods: The proposed randomized and controlled trial uses a multivariate nested cohort design to examine the physical (motor coordination) and psychosocial (self perceptions, anxiety, social competence) outcomes of the program. The Animal Fun program is a teacher delivered universal program incorporating animal actions to facilitate motor skill and social skill acquisition and practice. Pre-intervention scores on motor and psychosocial variables for six control schools and six intervention schools will be compared with post-intervention scores (end of Pre-Primary year) and scores taken 12 months later after the children's transition to primary school Year 1. 520 children aged 4.5 to 6 years will be recruited and it is anticipated that 360 children will be retained to the 1 year follow-up. There will be equal numbers of boys and girls.Discussion: If this program is found to improve the child's motor and psychosocial skills, this will assist in the child's transition into the first year of school. As a result of these changes, it is anticipated that children will have greater enjoyment participating in physical activities which will further promote long term physical and mental health.

dc.publisherBioMed Central
dc.relation.urihttp://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2431/10/78
dc.titleRationale, design and methods for a randomised and controlled trial to evaluate "Animal Fun" - a program designed to enhance physical and mental health in young children
dc.typeJournal Article
dcterms.source.volume10
dcterms.source.issn14712431
dcterms.source.titleBMC Pediatrics
curtin.note

This article is published under the Open Access publishing model and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/. Please refer to the licence to obtain terms for any further reuse or distribution of this work.

curtin.departmentSchool of Psychology and Speech Pathology
curtin.accessStatusOpen access


Files in this item

Thumbnail

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record