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Background

Insufficient physical activity is one of four primary risk factors for non‐communicable diseases such as stroke, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and chronic lung disease. As few as one in five children aged 5 to 17 years have the physical activity recommended for health benefits. The outside‐school hours period contributes around 30% of children's daily physical activity and presents a key opportunity for children to increase their physical activity. Testing the effects of interventions in outside‐school hours childcare settings is required to assess the potential to increase physical activity and reduce disease burden.

Objectives

To assess the effectiveness, cost‐effectiveness and associated adverse events of interventions designed to increase physical activity in children aged 4 to 12 years in outside‐school hours childcare settings.