Project
Piilo 2023 - Pienten lasten liikunnan ilon, fyysisen aktiivisuuden ja motoristen taitojen seuranta
Project sponsors
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Project type
Focus area
Implementation time
1.10.2022 - 31.12.2023
Project unit
Financing program
Ministry of Education and Culture
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Project description
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]