A repeated measurement study investigating the impact of school outdoor environment upon physical activity across ages and seasons in Swedish second, fifth and eighth graders

Abstract

BackgroundSchool children are confined to and exposed to outdoor environment that happens to be at their disposal during compulsory school time. The health-promoting potential of outdoor environment, and the use of it, is therefore important. We have studied the impact of school outdoor environment in terms of playground features, space, topography and vegetation upon the patterns of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) across ages and seasons in Swedish pupils at compulsory school.MethodsFour schools in the Middle and Southern parts of Sweden, with outdoor environments differing in playground features, space, topography and vegetation were analyzed during one school year. A sample of 196 children was drawn from eligible pupils in grades 2, 5 and 8, aged 7–14 years. PA was monitored with time-stamped Actigraph accelerometers GT3X+, measuring different intensity levels during outdoor time. Maps were used to mark places where the children stayed and what they did during outdoor time.ResultsMean MVPA during outdoor stay was 39 minutes for the entire school year, time in MVPA correlated positively with outdoor time, as did MVPA with used outdoor play area (p < 0.001). Outdoor MVPA declined with age, boys accumulated more MVPA than girls at all ages (p < 0.001). Ball play areas increased MVPA in 5th graders in September and May (p < 0.001). Overall, ball play areas increased 5th graders’ relative MVPA, and helped maintaining it with increasing age in boys but not in girls, whereas woodland stimulated and contributed to maintaining girls’ MVPA with increasing age. Outdoor temperature significantly impacted (p < 0.01) MVPA throughout all seasons.ConclusionWe conclude that school outdoor environment design and outdoor play time impact physical activity on a daily basis and may contribute to increasing girls’ physical activity and moderate the sharp decline in physical activity by age. The school outdoor environment may thus be a potential health promoter during school time.

Results From Sweden’s 2016 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth

“…However, only 4 of these articles [13][14][15][16] were included in this report card since the other 39 articles did not provide any estimates of the percentage of children and adolescents meeting the PA recommendations. In total, 4 studies objectively measured MVPA [13][14][15][16] and 1 subjectively measured SB (screen time; ie, TV/DVD/video viewing) 13 in relation to the recommendations. The amount of children reaching the recommendation for overall PA was assessed via those who fulfilled the recommendations of greater than 60 minutes of MVPA in accordance with the NNR.…”

“…13 Three older reports in this age group used lower cut-points for MVPA and reported that as many as 93% to 100% of 8-to 11-year-old children (boys and girls) fulfilled the recommendation. [14][15][16] For adolescents, 10% and 15% of 13-and 15-year-olds reached the allotted 60 minutes. 23 …”

“…Individual studies ActiGraph GT1M, 2-9 years (n = 553, PA and n = 1750, SB) 13 MVPA (1) and SB (5) MTI accelerometer model 7164, 7-9 years (n = 232) 14 MVPA (1) ActiGraph GT3X+, 7-14 years (n = 196) 15 MVPA (1) MTI accelerometer model 7164, 8-11 years (n = 229) 16 MVPA (1) Two population based cross-sectional surveys 19,20 Obesity Prevalence (11) Health Behavior in School-aged Children 23 Questionnaire for children aged 11, 13, and 15 years (n = 8000) MVPA (1), SB (5), organized sport (2), and diet (10) The National Dietary Survey 25 Questionnaire for children aged 4, 8, and 11 year olds (n = 2500) Diet (10) Nordic Overall Physical Activity: D Due to differences found within the number of children reaching the goal of 60 minutes of MVPA per day throughout childhood and adolescence, 3 age groups were created and a subsequent grade was given to each age group. The grades were preschool children (2-5 years), D; school-aged children (6-11 years), C+; and adolescents (12-15 years), F. The overall grade of D was an average of the grades for the 3 age groups.…”

Places where children are active: A longitudinal examination of children's physical activity

“…This shift may in part be due to the availability of electronic media in the home and parental restrictions regarding engaging in informal and unsupervised activity outdoors (Karsten, 2005; Tandy, 1999). As children grow older they spend less time outdoors (Cleland et al, 2010; Pagels et al, 2014). One study found that over a 5-year period among initially 10–11 year old children, time spent outdoors decreased by 31% in girls and by 19% in boys (Cleland et al, 2010).…”

Forwarder crane’s boom tip control system and beginner-level operators

“…This study is like studies in medicine and educational science, where the fundamental is that each individual is involved with only one of alternative cure or environments (Keselman et al 2001;Singh et al 2013;Pagels et al 2014). In this study the system corresponds to a cure or environment.…”