Education Commons^™

An Exploration Of Infant And Toddler Unstructured Outdoor Play, Danae Dinkel, Kailey Snyder, Tyler Patterson, Shane Warehime, Miriam E. Kuhn, Deborah Basler Wisneski

Health and Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Unstructured outdoor play is important for children's development. The present study examined infants’ and toddlers’ physical and social unstructured outdoor play behaviors within childcare centers. Children's outdoor play behaviors were video recorded at two centers (A&B) and assessed using a modified version of the Observational System for Recording Physical Activity in Children in Preschool (OSRAC-P). Children in this study primarily took part in active play (56.7%) and engaged in play without any type of prompting from a teacher (91.2%). There was a significant interaction between the effect of center and location on physically active play (p < 0.001). Children at Center B were most active in open play areas (77.6%), while children at Center A were most active in gross motor play areas (72.2%). In sum, the outdoor play environment influences infants’ and toddlers’ physical and social play behaviors; however, more research is needed to determine the optimal environment for development.

An Overview Of Assessment Methodology For Obesity-Related Variables In Infants At Risk, Danae Dinkel, Corrine Hanson, Karsten Koehler, Ann Anderson Berry, Anastasia Kyvelidou, Matthew Bice, Jill Wallen, Danstan Bagenda, Laura Jana, Jana Pressler

Health and Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Background: The first 2 years of a child’s life are a particularly critical time period for obesity prevention.

Aim: An increasing amount of research across the world is aimed at understanding factors that impact early childhood obesity and developing interventions that target these factors effectively. With this growing interest, new and interdisciplinary research teams are developing to meet this research need. Due to rapid growth velocity during this phase of the lifespan, typical assessments used in older populations may not be valid or applicable in infants, and investigators need to be aware of the pros and cons of …

He’S Just Content To Sit: A Qualitative Study Of Mothers’ Perceptions Of Infant Obesity And Physical Activity, Danae Dinkel, Kailey Snyder, Anastasia Kyvelidou, Victoria Molfese

Health and Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Background: Rates of obesity among children ages zero to five are rapidly increasing. Greater efforts are needed to promote healthy behaviors of young children. Mothers are especially important targets for promoting health as mothers’ views play a vital role in helping their children foster healthy habits from an early age. Research has found parents’ views of infants’ weight may influence their feeding practices; however, limited research has explored mothers’ view of infants’ weight in relation to the promotion of physical activity. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of mothers of normal weight infants and overweight …