Building design and grounds might contribute to physical activity. The size of school grounds, and in-school physical activity were compared of 1566 sixth-grade girls. On average, the school footprint size accounted for 4% of all light physical activity and 16% of all moderate-to-vigorous physical activity during school hours. School design appears to be associated with physical activity, but it is likely that programming (eg, physical education, intramurals, club sports), social factors, and school siting are more important determinants of total physical activity.
Archive for category Playgrounds
Energy expenditure, heart rate, and upper limb and total body movement were assessed in 11- to 17-year-old adolescents whilst playing three active (Nintendo Wii) and one sedentary (XBOX 360) video games.
30 minutes of treatment with Playstation EyeToy Games per day for 4 weeks showed significantly more improvement in the EyeToy group compared to the control group.
UK cardiology specialists asked makers of pacemakers about electromagnetic interference between their devices and the Wii computer console. The results were published in BMJ.
The effectiveness of the playground environment to promote PA has been considered as a complementary setting to physical education. Energy expenditure and physical activity levels have increased during playtime following the implementation of playtime-based interventions. In order to advance knowledge of children’s PA during playtime, a number of key issues for consideration in future research are detailed. Research on children’s use of playtime to be physically active and the extent of the contribution of playtime to daily PA guidelines is warranted. This 2006 study is from Liverpool.
The purpose of this 2005 investigation was to examine whether painting playgrounds with multicolored markings would increase the percent of recess time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and vigorous physical activity (VPA) in Liverpool girls and boys. Multicolor playground markings can be a low-cost method of increasing children’s daily physical activity levels in the short term. If these increases were sustained, then school playgrounds with multicolor markings would make a valuable contribution to physical activity recommendations for young people.
PA and school recess time
Dec 14
The aims of this 2005 study from Portugal were: 1) to observe participation in moderate-to-vigorous PA during school recess periods; 2) to determine the relative importance of PA during recesses to overall daily PA; and 3) to examine differences in PA between the sexes during unstructured recess periods. Only 10 boys and 12 girls aged 8-10 years participated. The results of this study suggest that school recess time is an important setting to promote moderate-to-vigorous PA and contributes to daily PA in young children, especially in girls.
116 boys and 112 girls (aged 5-10 years) from 23 schools had their physical activity during recess quantified using a uniaxial accelerometer during three recess breaks on one school day in this UK study published in 2005. On average, children in this study did not achieve 50% of recess time in physical activity. Interventions for increasing the physical activity of children in the playground are warranted.
634 children aged 7-Â11 years participated in this 2001 study from Leeds. The intervention included teacher training, modification of school meals, and the development of school action plans targeting the curriculum, physical education, tuck shops, and playground activities. Main outcome include BMI, diet and physical activity. Vegetable consumption by 24 hour recall was higher in children in the intervention group than the control group. There was no difference in body mass index, other psychological measures, or dieting behaviour between the groups.
In a 2000 study the physical activity levels of 47, 5- to 7-year-old children were assessed before and after a school playground was painted with fluorescent markings. Results suggest that while playground markings had a significant and positive influence on children’s physical activity, factors other than playground markings may also influence children’s physically active play.