The contribution of preschool playground factors in explaining children's physical activity during recess

Abstract

Background: Low levels of physical activity are characteristic in preschoolers. To effectively promote physical activity, it is necessary to understand factors that influence young children's physical activity. The present study aimed to investigate how physical activity levels are influenced by environmental factors during recess in preschool.

Comparing the physical activity patterns of 3-year-old Finnish and Australian children during childcare and homecare days

“…Children tend to be less active when more staff members are present or involved with children's play [38,39]. Girls in particular prefer to stay close to their teachers, thus, decreasing activity levels when teachers are present [40]. Similarly, the current study also found gender differences in PA intensity levels in childcare days, but not during homecare days.…”

“…Despite these opportunities to play outdoors, Australian children's PA levels were surprisingly low. Relative to Cardon et al's [40] findings, it could be expected that Australian children in this study should have reached higher levels of activity.…”

“…Parents may assume that their child is getting enough PA during the childcare day, which could limit encouragement of the child to be physically active or to play outdoors after childcare hours. It is possible that the present sample of children is engaged in SB such as TV viewing or using computers, similarly observed in Belgium [40]. While SB tracks more consistently than PA; therefore, reducing children's SB, especially TV viewing, and promoting their PA during the early childhood period can bring sustained benefits that carry over into childhood [6].…”

“…Also, several previous studies have indicated that children who spend more time outdoors are more physically active [12,15,17,37,41]. Cardon et al [40] have suggested that the provision of sufficient play space for recesses (e.g., splitting children into groups with different recess times), favoring shorter and more frequent recesses during preschool hours or encouraging supervisors to promote continued activity during outdoor play offer considerable potential for increasing activity levels in preschoolers. Increases in PA within the Australian sample were also found at 10 a.m. and at 4 p.m.…”

The IDEFICS Intervention Toolbox - A Guide to Successful Obesity Prevention at Community Level

“…The playground space available for children (number children/m²) during recess periods is found to be an important predictor of children's physical activity levels (Cardon et al,2008). Therefore, structural changes that reduce the number of children on the same surface area can be an inexpensive way to increase physical activity levels during recess: e.g.…”