Does Playground Improvement Increase Physical Activity among Children? A Quasi-Experimental Study of a Natural Experiment

Abstract

Outdoor recreational spaces have the potential to increase physical activity. This study used a quasi-experimental evaluation design to determine how a playground renovation impacts usage and physical activity of children and whether the visitations correlate with children's physical activity levels and parental impressions of the playground. Observational data and intercept interviews were collected simultaneously on park use and park-based activity among playground visitors at pre- and postrenovation at an intervention and a comparison park during three 2-hour periods each day over two weeks. No detectable difference in use between parks was observed at followup. In the intervention park, attendance increased among boys, but decreased among girls although this (nonsignificant) decline was less marked than in the comparison park. Following renovation, there was no detectable difference between parks in the number of children engaged in MVPA (interaction between park and time: P = 0.73). At the intervention park, there was a significant decline in girls engaging in MVPA at followup (P = 0.04). Usage was correlated with parental/carer perceptions of playground features but not with physical activity levels. Renovations have limited the potential to increase physical activity until factors influencing usage and physical activity behavior are better understood.

When cities move children: Development of a new methodology to assess context-specific physical activity behaviour among children and adolescents using accelerometers and GPS

“…The number of natural experiments that aim to evaluate changes to the built environment on PA behaviours among children is increasing but they are still scarce (Bohn-Goldbaum et al, 2013;Quigg et al, 2012;Smith et al, 2012). The innovation in the WCMC study is the possibility to objectively evaluate total daily context-specific behaviour as it is otherwise not possible to rule out substitution as expressed in the Activitystat hypothesis (Gomersall et al, 2013).…”

Healthy Urban Environments for Children and Young People: A Systematic Review of Intervention Studies

“…In an Australian-based study, the number of children and teen park users increased between baseline and six-months post-intervention, although p-values were not provided (Veitch et al, 2012). In another Australian-based study, no detectable difference between the mean number of children using the parks was observed at the two year follow-up time point (p ¼0.42) (Bohn-Goldbaum et al, 2013). Three studies undertaken in the USA showed a decline in the number of children and adolescent park users post-intervention (p-values not provided) (Cohen et al, 2009(Cohen et al, , 2012Tester and Baker, 2009).…”

“…More specifically, individual domains measuring confounding (Bohn-Goldbaum et al, 2013;Cohen et al, 2009Cohen et al, , 2012Roemmich et al, 2014;Tester and Baker, 2009;Veitch et al, 2012), selection of participants (Bohn-Goldbaum et al, 2013;Cohen et al, 2009Cohen et al, , 2012Davidson et al, 1994;Quigg et al, 2012;Tester and Baker, 2009;Veitch et al, 2012), missing data (Bohn-Goldbaum et al, 2013;Cohen et al, 2009Cohen et al, , 2012Roemmich et al, 2014;Tester and Baker, 2009;Veitch et al, 2012) and measurement outcomes (Bohn-Goldbaum et al, 2013;Cohen et al, 2009Cohen et al, , 2012Roemmich et al, 2014;Tester and Baker, 2009;Veitch et al, 2012) were frequently assessed as at a serious risk of bias. The sampling strategy for study sites was non-randomised for seven studies (Bohn-Goldbaum et al, 2013;Cohen et al, 2009Cohen et al, , 2012Davidson et al, 1994;Quigg et al, 2012;Tester and Baker, 2009;Veitch et al, 2012), of which six incorporated comparison sites within the study design (Bohn-Goldbaum et al, 2013;Cohen et al, 2009;Davidson et al, 1994;Quigg et al, 2012;Tester and Baker, 2009;…”

“…Following park renovations and upgrades in the Australia (Bohn-Goldbaum et al, 2013) and New Zealand (Quigg et al, 2012), no evidence was demonstrated for a difference in the proportion of children engaging in Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA) at the two year follow-up time Proportion of students overweight/at-risk of overweight increased; proportion of students consuming 5 or more servings of fruit and vegetables a day decreased; no changes to proportion of students engaging in regular moderate PA Parent-reported increase in students walking; no evidence for differences in active travel by student-reported data ✓ Serious x point (p ¼0.73) (Bohn-Goldbaum et al, 2013) or for objectively measured Mean Total Daily Physical Activity after one year followup (p-value not provided) (Quigg et al, 2012). In a USA-based intervention, removal of seating arrangements in the park did not change the likelihood of children standing or engaging in MVPA (p ¼0.35) (Roemmich et al, 2014).…”

The Role of Built Environments on Children’s Sedentary Behavior: A Social Ecological Perspective

“…Children are perceptive and could be positively or negatively influenced by their parents' dietary and activity behaviors. In addition, parents have the opportunity to promote outside activities by actively engaging, providing encouragement, or being present in and during neighborhood recreational activities (i.e., playground) [56].…”