Childhood is a critical period to develop healthy movement behaviours, such as regular physical activity, adequate sleep and minimising time spent sedentary, including screen time. The Australian 24-hour Movement Guidelines considers sleep, sedentary behaviour and physical activity as co-dependent behaviours.
The PLAY Spaces and Environments for Children’s Physical Activity (PLAYCE) cohort was established to investigate how movement behaviours change over early to late childhood, across key behaviour settings and relationships with health and development.
Our team have comprehensively measured movement behaviours, their determinants and the link with health and development outcomes in a representative sample of over 2000 children aged 2-5 years old. We have followed up the cohort in their first year of full-time primary school (aged 5-7 years), and again at ages 8-10 and 11-14 years.
The findings are used to inform national and international 24-Hour Movement Guidelines and behaviour setting-specific as well as population-level interventions to benefit child health and wellbeing across early to late childhood.
Project Partners:
- Department of Health WA
- Department of Creative Industries, Tourism and Sport WA
- Department of Transport WA
- WA Local Government Association
- Cancer Council WA
- NaturePlay Australia
- Australian Childcare Alliance WA
- Goodstart Early Learning
Funding:
• Healthway
• NHMRC
• Future Health Research and Innovation Fund
• National Heart Foundation
Investigators:
• Professor Stewart Trost (University of Queens land)
• Professor Jasper Schipperijn (University of Southern Denmark)
• Professor Gina Trapp (Edith Cowan University and The Kids)
• Associate Professor Bryan Boruff (The University of Western Australia)
• Professor Gareth Stratton (Swansea University)
Publications:
- Christian H, Nathan A, Trost SG, Schipperijn J, Boruff B, Adams, EK, George P, Moore HL, Henry A (2025). Profile of the PLAY Spaces & Environments for Children’s Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour and Sleep (PLAYCE) cohort study, Western Australia. Journal of Activity, Sedentary and Sleep Behaviors.
- Christian, H., Adams, E.K., Moore, HL., Nathan, A., Murray, K., Schipperijn, J., Trost, S.G. (2024). Developmental trends in young children's device-measured physical activity and sedentary behaviour. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 21:97, doi.org/10.1186/s12966-024-01645-z.
- Chong KH, Suesse T, Cross PL, Ryan ST,…Christian H…. et al (2024). Pooled analysis of physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep among children from 33 countries. JAMA Pediatrics. 178(11):1199-1207, DOI:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.3330.
- Christian H, Murray K, Trost SG, Schipperijn J, Trapp G, Maitland C, Divitini M (2022). Meeting the Australian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years is associated with better social-emotional development in preschool boys. Preventive Medicine Reports, 27:101770. DOI:10.1016/j.pmedr.2022.101770
- Christian H, Adams EK, Trost SG, Schipperijn J, Murray K, Boruff B, Nathan A, Stratton G, Robinson T (2025). Home Yard and Neighborhood Physical Environment Latent Class Profiles and Preschooler’s Physical Activity Behavior: Findings from the PLAYCE study. Environment & Behavior.
- George P, Murray K, Boruff B, Christian H (2025). Living closer to the beach is associated with better socioemotional development in young boys. Journal of Environmental Psychology,101:102497, doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102497.
- Adams EK, Murray K, Trost SG, Christian HE (2024). Longitudinal effects of dog ownership, dog acquisition, and dog loss on children’s movement behaviours: Findings from the PLAYCE cohort study. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 21(1):7. DOI: 10.1186/s12966-023-01544-9
- Bai P, Schipperijn J, Rosenberg M, Christian H (2022). Where are preschoolers active in childcare centers? A hot-spot analysis using GIS, GPS and accelerometry data. Children’s Geographies. https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2022.2104627
- Nathan, A, George, P, Ng, M, Wenden, E, Bai, P, Phiri, Z, Christian, H (2021). Impact of covid-19 restrictions on Western Australian children’s physical activity and screen time. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(5), p.2583.
- Child's Play: Findings from the Western Australian ‘PLAY Spaces and Environments for Children’s Physical Activity’ Study (PLAYCE)
Impact/achievements:
- 75 publications to date
- A decade of discovery with the world’s largest and longest-running study of young children’s movement behaviours using wearable devices
- Largest data set included in the first international database of pre-school children’s accelerometer data – the Sleep and Activity Database for the Early Years (SADEY)
- Awarded best oral at the 2025 International Congress on Physical Activity and Health (Paris, France)
- Data has informed the 2018, 2022 and 2025 National Active Healthy Kids Australian Report Cards which benchmark children’s physical activity nationally and globally
- Evidence informing the The Australian Government 24-hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years and World Health Organization’s Global Standards for Healthy Eating, Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour and Sleep in Childcare