Piilo 2023 - Pienten lasten liikunnan ilon, fyysisen aktiivisuuden ja motoristen taitojen seuranta

The Joypam 2023 – Monitoring joy of motion, physical activity, and motor skills of young children in Finland

The Joypam 2023 –
Monitoring joy of motion, physical activity, and motor skills of young children
in Finland study was a population-based, geographically and population-density
representative data collection on physical activity in children aged 4-6 years.
Research was based on previous Joypam development and pilot study 2019–2021.
The Ministry of Education and Culture funded the research project, which was
coordinated by Jamk University of Applied Sciences. The study was carried out
in cooperation with the University of Jyväskylä and the national Joy in Motion
programme.

The Joypam 2023 study sought
a total of 2,400 children aged 4–6 through early childhood education and care (ECEC)
services. Over 1800 children aged 4-6 years old from 156 ECEC settings and 20
municipalities across Finland participated in the study. The study collected data
on children's physical activity using accelerometers and a guardian's questionnaire.
A watch-like accelerometer was attached with a band to the child's wrist. The accelerometer
automatically recorded the child's physical activity and sleep during the
measurement week (7 days), both during free time and in ECEC. Guardians
participated in the measurement by helping the child to use the accelerometer
and by filling in a measurement diary. Participating ECEC settings were
encouraged to use Joy in Motion self-evaluation tool for the ECEC, which can be
used to identify the policies and practices related to promotion of children's physical
activity in the setting.

After the data collection,
participated families received encouraging feedback on their child's physical
activity, including tips on promoting of physical activity and motor skills. ECEC
settings and services in municipalities received group-level feedback based on
the results of the children who participated in the study. The results of the study
were used to produce a report describing the national situation in terms of the
quantity, quality, and environmental conditions of physical activity for
children aged 4-6 years in Finland in 2023. The report is in Finnish and freely
available to the public.

The results showed, that
on average, children aged 4 to 6 engaged in light-intensity physical activity
for 3.0 hours and moderate to vigorous physical activity for 74 minutes per
day. Children were sedentary for 9.4 hours per day. According to the
recommendations for physical activity in early childhood, children should
engage in light, moderate or vigorous activity for at least three hours each
day, of which at least one hour should be moderate to vigorous activity.
Seventy-six per cent of children had the recommended amount of physical
activity. Boys achieved the recommendation more often than girls (83 % vs. 68 %),
older children more often than younger children, and children in cities more
commonly than those living in rural areas or small towns. The objective of the
Joy in Motion programme is for ECEC to provide children with two-thirds of
their daily recommended amount of physical activity, i.e. two hours of physical
activity, 40 minutes of which should be moderate to vigorous activity. During
the time spent in ECEC, 61 per cent of children had enough physical activity to
meet this objective, boys more commonly than girls (72 % vs. 50 %).

The study was prepared to
provide a monitoring for every four years. 

More information on the Joypam 2023 study
and previous development study can be found on the Joypam (Piilo in Finnish)
website www.jamk.fi/piilo. 

More information: 

Anette Mehtälä, Research coordinator, Jamk University of Applied Sciences

Tuija Tammelin, Principal researcher, Jamk University of Applied Sciences

Email: [email protected]