Children’s Activity Levels in Different Playground Environments: An Observational Study in Four Canadian Preschools

Berg, Stephen

doi:10.1007/s10643-014-0654-5

Cited by 24 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…These results are consistent with another childcare‐based study that assessed child physical activity using the SOPLAY tool. Berg found that children attending four Canadian childcare services were engaged in ‘very active’ physical activity during 20% of child counts, and 51% of child counts were ‘sedentary’ . However, previous research conducted internationally and in Australia utilising accelerometers to measure physical activity suggests that children engage in moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity for just 6–15% of the time spent at childcare .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dietary intake and physical activity levels of children attending Australian childcare services

Jones

Wyse

Wiggers

et al. 2017

Nutrition & Dietetics

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dietary intake and physical activity levels of children attending Australian childcare services

Jones

Wyse

Wiggers

et al. 2017

Nutrition & Dietetics

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“…SOPLAY is a standardised instrument for assessing physical activity levels in recreational settings using systematic, momentary time sampling of a predetermined area [ 58 ]. SOPLAY has been found to be both valid and reliable in school-aged children [ 59 ] and has been previously used to assess physical activity in the childcare setting [ 60 ]. The observer coded all structured physical activity and outdoor free play sessions that occurred between 9 am and 3 pm at each service.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of an intervention to facilitate the implementation of healthy eating and physical activity policies and practices in childcare services: a randomised controlled trial

et al. 2015

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BackgroundThe primary aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention to increase the implementation of healthy eating and physical activity policies and practices by centre-based childcare services. The study also sought to determine if the intervention was effective in improving child dietary intake and increasing child physical activity levels while attending childcare.MethodsA parallel group, randomised controlled trial was conducted in a sample of 128 childcare services. Intervention strategies included provision of implementation support staff, securing executive support, staff training, consensus processes, academic detailing visits, tools and resources, performance monitoring and feedback and a communications strategy. The primary outcome of the trial was the proportion of services implementing all seven healthy eating and physical activity policies and practices targeted by the intervention. Outcome data were collected via telephone surveys with nominated supervisors and room leaders at baseline and immediately post-intervention. Secondary trial outcomes included the differences between groups in the number of serves consumed by children for each food group within the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating and in the proportion of children engaged in sedentary, walking or very active physical activity assessed via observation in a random subsample of 36 services at follow-up.ResultsThere was no significant difference between groups for the primary trial outcome (p = 0.44). Relative to the control group, a significantly larger proportion of intervention group services reported having a written nutrition and physical activity policy (p = 0.05) and providing adult-guided activities to develop fundamental movement skills (p = 0.01). There were no significant differences between groups at follow-up on measures of child dietary intake or physical activity.ConclusionsThe findings of the trial were equivocal. While there was no significant difference between groups for the primary trial outcome, the intervention did significantly increase the proportion of intervention group services implementing two of the seven healthy eating and physical activity policies and practices. High levels of implementation of a number of policies and practices at baseline, significant obesity prevention activity in the study region and higher than previously reported intra-class correlation of child behaviours may, in part, explain the trial findings.Trial registrationAustralian Clinical Trials Registry (reference ACTRN12612000927820).

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“…Although accumulating a vast number of steps is required, it is not sufficient. Flexible walking skill also requires infants to implement their skill adaptively in novel situations and varied environments (Adolph, 2008;Adolph & Robinson, 2013, 2015Adolph et al, 2012). Merely taking steps, like walking on a treadmill, does not teach infants about the bodyenvironment relations necessary to successfully navigate a varied environment in everyday life.…”

Section: Long-term Functions Of Locomotor Explorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, the peragration-play model is already employed in the most effective playground designs. Alluring playgrounds and playrooms often feature wide-open spaces where children are free to move (Berg, 2015;Heft, 1988;Luchs & Fikus, 2013;McLaren et al, 2012;Van Liempd et al, 2018). These findings have implications for the design of children's environments such as daycare settings, classrooms, and homes.…”

Section: Long-term Functions Of Locomotor Explorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

It's the journey, not the destination: Locomotor exploration in infants

Hoch

O’Grady

Adolph

2018

Developmental Science

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What incites infant locomotion? Recent research suggests that locomotor exploration is not primarily directed toward distant people, places, or things. However, this question has not been addressed experimentally. In the current study, we asked whether a room filled with toys designed to encourage locomotion (stroller, ball, etc.) elicits different quantities or patterns of exploration than a room with no toys. Caregivers were present but did not interact with infants. Although most walking bouts in the toy-filled room involved toys, to our surprise, 15-month-olds in both rooms produced the same quantity of locomotion. This finding suggests that mere space to move is sufficient to elicit locomotion. However, infants' patterns of locomotor exploration differed: Infants in the toy-filled room spent a smaller percent of the session within arms' reach of their caregiver and explored more locations in the room. Real-time analyses show that infants in the toy-filled room took an increasing number of steps per bout and covered more area as the session continued, whereas infants in the no-toy room took fewer and fewer steps per bout and traveled repeatedly over the same ground. Although not required to elicit locomotion, moving with toys encouraged infants to travel farther from their caregivers and to explore new areas.

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Children’s Activity Levels in Different Playground Environments: An Observational Study in Four Canadian Preschools

Cited by 24 publications

References 17 publications

Dietary intake and physical activity levels of children attending Australian childcare services

Dietary intake and physical activity levels of children attending Australian childcare services

Effectiveness of an intervention to facilitate the implementation of healthy eating and physical activity policies and practices in childcare services: a randomised controlled trial

It's the journey, not the destination: Locomotor exploration in infants

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