School Playground Facilities as a Determinant of Children’s Daily Activity: A Cross-Sectional Study of Danish Primary School Children

Abstract

Background: This study investigates the influence of school playground facilities on children's daily physical activity. Methods: Participants were 594 school children measured at preschool (age 6 to 7 years) and 3 years later in third grade (518 children age 9 to 10 years) from 18 schools in 2 suburban municipalities in Denmark. Physical activity data were obtained using accelerometers. These were related to the number of permanent play facilities in school grounds and the school playground area (m 2 ). Results: The number of play facilities in the school grounds was positively associated with all measures of children's activity. In preschool every 10 additional play facilities the children had access to was associated with an increase in the average accelerometer counts of 14% (r = .273, P < .001) in school time and 6.9% (r = .195, P < .001) overall. For the children in third grade, access to 10 additional play facilities was associated with an increase in school time activity level of 26% (r = .364, P < .001) and an increase in overall activity level of 9.4% (r = .211, P < .001). School playground area did not affect activity levels independently of the number of permanent play facilities. Conclusion: Increasing the number of play facilities in primary school playgrounds may increase the level of children's daily physical activity.

Physical activity and obesity in children

“…A range of environmental factors including less active transport45 and the changing nature of school-ground facilities46 have resulted in the reduction or removal of many physical activities from our contemporary lifestyle and thereby contributed to the childhood obesity epidemic 47. Levels of habitual physical activity in many young people and adults are lower than they were in the past48 and this has contributed to both a reduction in physical activity energy expenditure and, as a consequence, total energy expenditure 36 49.…”

Effectiveness of the PLAYgrounds programme on PA levels during recess in 6-year-old to 12-year-old children

“…These include playground markings,8–10 time-management,11 obstacle courses or fitness breaks,12 equipment provision13 and increasing the amount of playground facilities 14. Besides such environmental changes, educational or social measures such as supervision and encouragement from adults15 are also shown to be effective in increasing PA during recess.…”

Daily physical activity and sports participation among children from ethnic minorities in Denmark

“…From these 704 participants questionnaire data combined with valid measures of physical activity (Nielsen, Bugge, Hermansen, Svensson, & Andersen, 2010) was obtained from 594 children (of whom 67 were from other ethnic backgrounds than Danish) at pre-school age (age 6-7 years) and from 518 (of whom 58 were from other ethnic backgrounds than Danish) when these children went to third grade (age 9-10 years). In height and weight these children were found to be representative of the whole population of children in Ballerup and Taarnby (Eiberg et al, 2005); the sample also seemed representative of the general Danish population in terms of social parameters such as the distribution of rental and self-owned accommodation, socio-economic position and the proportion from ethnic minorities.…”