20 May 2021
Thousands of Adelaide school children will participate in a world-first initiative to increase physical activity and cut screen time in Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) centres across the country.
The biggest of its kind anywhere in the world, the University of South Australia study will address growing concerns about children’s sedentary behaviour marked by an increase in regular screen time.
Awarded about $1.5 million through the NHMRC’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRRF) the researchers will work with 162 Australian OSHC centres to implement and evaluate newly established best practice guidelines for children’s physical activity and use of screens.
With more than half a million Australian children attending Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) and research showing that 31-79 per cent of OSHC sessions are sedentary, it is an important and timely move.
In Australia, less than one in four children achieve the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity each day. On average, primary school-aged children (aged 5-14) spend more than two hours each day sitting or lying down for screen-based activities.
With about 10 per cent of Australian primary school children attending OSHC every week, the guidelines have the potential to affect many children on a regular basis.
Lead researcher, UniSA’s Professor Carol Maher, says the initiative could be a game-changer for OSHC centres, helping them better support the health and wellbeing of Australian children in their care.
“For a long time OSHC centres have been concerned about getting the right balance of physical activity and screen time for children in after school care,” Prof Maher says.
“Currently, physical activity and screen time practices in Australian OSHC centres are not guided by policy. As a result, practice varies enormously.
“We know that children’s activity patterns, including their physical activity and screen time behaviours, have wide-ranging impacts on their physical and psychological health, school performance and wellbeing, so it’s really important to get this right.”
“For the past five years, we’ve been working with more than 500 OSHC directors to develop the first national guidelines for children’s physical activity and screen time in OSHC. And now, we’re at the point of helping OSHC centres implement and embed these into daily practice.”
The new guidelines* encourage free outdoor play which is consistent with research that shows that more than half of children’s physical exercise is accumulated through this type of physical activity.
OSHC centres will be recruited from greater Adelaide, greater Perth, and the Hunter New England region of NSW, with the first cohort expected to begin early next year.
Notes to Editors:
- This research is supported by the NHMRC’s MRFF 2020 Maternal Health and First 2000 Days, Early Childhood, and Exercise and Nutrition Grant,
- New National Guidelines being implemented in OSHC centre
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Media contact: Annabel Mansfield T: +61 8 8302 0351 M: +61 417 717 504
E: Annabel.Mansfield@unisa.edu.au
Researcher: Prof Carol Maher T: +61 8 8302 2315 E: Carol.Maher@unisa.edu.au
