Researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center held focus groups with staff members at 34 area child care centers to learn more about how kids spend their time in day care and the reasons they may or may not spend time outside.
Archive for category Playgrounds
A study in the January/February issue of Child Development suggests that, contrary to popular belief, preschool-aged children are often sedentary in their play, the Los Angeles Times reports. In observing a group of about 540 preschoolers from 24 preschools in South Carolina, researchers recorded and examined almost 265,000, 30-minute segments of the children’s indoor activities and nearly 30,000, 30-minute segments of outdoor activity. During the course of a typical day, 89% of children’s activities were sedentary, 8%were lightly active and 3% were moderately-to-vigorously active.
Policies and characteristics of the preschool environment and physical activity of young children
Jan 28
A total of 299 children from 20 preschools wore accelerometers for an average of 8.1 hours/day for 5.5 days. Children in the top 5 physical activity-promoting preschools accumulated >60 minutes of moderate/vigorous physical activity per day, compared with the children in the other preschools, who accumulated <60 minutes of moderate/vigorous physical activity per day. Read more
Exposure to bullying at school and depression in adulthood: A study of Danish men born in 1953
Jan 28
Danish men who during childhood were exposed to bullying in school are at a significantly increased risk of having being iagnosed with depression between the ages 31–51 years.
Health Games Research, a US program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, encourages applicants to submit groundbreaking research ideas that will test behavioral health theories of game design, learning, attitude change, and skill development when applied to digital interactive games intended to improve players’ physical activity and/or self-care. Proposals are due on April 8, 2009. US$8.25 millions are up for grabs.
School-based health and exercise programs have positive outcomes despite having little effect on children’s weight or the amount of exercise they do outside of school, say Cochrane Researchers who carried out a systematic review of studies on physical activity programs in schools.
This study compared moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) of students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and students without disabilities during inclusive physical education and recess. Students (7-12 years) wore a uniaxial accelerometer in school for 5 consecutive school days. Results indicated a significant difference between settings. Students with and without ASD spent a higher proportion of time in MVPA during physical education than during recess, relative to the amount of time spent in those settings.
In a study of 244 New Zealand children, researchers found that the children’s daily exercise levels generally declined between the ages of 3 and 5, while their time in front of the TV or in other sedentary activities stayed consistent.
The intervention included activities in nutrition and physical activity, fully applied the first year and partially in the second one. Obesity declined significantly only in boys during the first year.
Indoor Recess Solution
Jan 7
Why not teach children playground games and rules by showing the new Peaceful Playgrounds DVD.