Ehealth Interventions To Promote Healthy Movement Behaviors In Young Children: A Meta-analysis

eHealth is considered by many to be a cost-effective approach that holds great promise for enhancing health and related behaviors. However, previous research on eHealth interventions aimed at promoting behavior change has primarily focused on adolescents and adults, leaving limited evidence specifically pertaining to young children. PURPOSE: To assess the effectiveness and provide a comprehensive summary of the characteristics of eHealth interventions in promoting physical activity (PA), improving sleep, and reducing sedentary behaviors (SED) among preschoolers. METHODS: A systematic search was conducted across six electronic databases to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) focusing on eHealth interventions targeting PA, SED, and sleep among young children aged 2-6 years. To be included, studies had to assess one or more of these outcomes both at baseline and post-intervention. Meta-analysis was performed using a random-effects model to determine the pooled effect. Additionally, subgroup analyses were conducted to explore the potential effects of moderating factors such as intervention duration, intervention type, and risk of bias. RESULTS: Of 7691 identified records, 13 studies were included. The total sample size for the meta-analysis was 2971 preschoolers. Compared with the control groups, children allocated to experimental groups had increased significantly more in terms of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA; g = 0.16; 95% CI, 0.03 to 0.30) and total physical activity (g = 0.37, 95% CI, 0.02 to 0.72). In addition, eHealth interventions significantly reduced SED (g = -0.15; 95% CI, -0.27 to -0.02) and improved sleep (g = 0.47; 95% CI, 0.18 to 0.75) immediately after the intervention. The quality of evidence was rated as ‘moderate’ for MVPA and SED outcomes, and ‘low’ for sleep outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: eHealth interventions may be a promising strategy to increase PA, improve sleep, and decrease SED among preschoolers. To effectively promote healthy behaviors in early childhood, it is imperative for future studies to prioritize the development of rigorous comparative trials with larger sample sizes while examining the effects of potential moderators. There is also a need to investigate the long-term effects stemming from these interventions.