21st Dec 2023

Introduction: Despite the importance of movement behaviours (physical activity, sedentary behaviour, sleep) to young children’s health and development, no tools with appropriate content validity currently exist that capture these three behaviours concurrently. We aimed to co-design, and assess the content validity of, a novel tool (MoveMEY) designed to capture movement behaviours of UK preschool children (aged 3-4 years). Methods: Four distinct steps were followed: (1) Pre-existing proxy measurement tools (questionnaires and diaries) were identified through extensive literature searching to inform creation of the novel tool. (2) Focus group discussions were conducted with caregivers of preschoolers (n=11), and (3) topic relevant researchers completed qualitative surveys (n=6) to co-design MoveMEY. (4) Content validity of MoveMEY was assessed through interviews with parents of preschoolers (n=12) following piloting of the tool. Qualitative data were analysed through thematic analysis. Results: The initial version of MoveMEY was based on the format of an existing questionnaire and by mapping the content of questions to the 24-hour movement behaviour guidelines. Co-design of MoveMEY resulted in changes to the format (e.g. short questionnaire to seven-day diary) and content (e.g. inclusion of ‘general information’ questions, screen time before bed). Content validity assessment demonstrated that MoveMEY was relevant and comprehensively assessed children’s movement behaviours. MoveMEY was understandable, with minor parental suggestions implemented to finalise and improve the tool. Conclusions: MoveMEY is the first co-designed measurement tool that has relevance for assessing whether preschoolers achieve movement behaviour guidelines. Caregiver and topic relevant researcher involvement throughout the development process resulted in a seven-day daily reported diary that comprehensively assesses pre-schoolers movement behaviours and is understandable to caregivers.