Research Impact: Dr Sven Messing and Dr Kevin Volf were involved in conducting a systematic review to analyse the effectiveness of public policies promoting physical activity (PA) in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) setting.
The included studies examined both legally binding policies and voluntary accreditation standards. Results showed that public policies requiring mandatory PA time or revised accreditation standards positively influenced the PA environment in ECEC centres, e.g. by requiring a mandatory PA time of at least 60 minutes per day or by implementing revised accreditation standards. However, effects on children’s PA behaviour were inconclusive. The review highlights the potential of public policies to create healthier environments but underscores the need for further research to assess policy effectiveness.
Till, M., Volf, K., Tristram, C., Do, S., Gelius, P., Hebestreit, A., Oberwöhrmann, S., and Messing, S. (2025). Evidence on the Effectiveness of Public Policies for Physical Activity Promotion in the Early Childcare Education and Care Setting: A Systematic Review. Child: Care, Health and Development https://doi.org/10.1111/cch.70078
Sven Messing is a is a Marie Curie Research Fellow at the Physical Activity for Health Research Centre, HRI, PESS. His work focuses on monitoring physical activity policies at different levels of government. sven.messing@ul.ie. Follow on X: @SvenMessing. Research Profiles: Researchgate, ORCID.
Kevin Volf is a Postdoc in the Department of Physical Education & Sport Sciences, UL. kevin.volf@ul.ie Follow on X @kevin_volf ORCID Bluesky LinkedIn ResearchGate
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