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Long-term effects of a playground markings and physical structures on children's recess physical activity levels

journal contribution
posted on 2007-05-01, 00:00 authored by Nicky RidgersNicky Ridgers, G Stratton, S Fairclough, J Twisk
Objective : The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of a playground redesign intervention across time on children's recess physical activity levels using combined physical activity measures and to evaluate the potential influence of covariates on the intervention effect.

Method :
Fifteen schools located in areas of high deprivation in one large city in England each received £20,000 through a national £10 million Sporting Playgrounds Initiative to redesign the playground environment based on a multicolored zonal design. Eleven schools served as matched socioeconomic controls. Physical activity levels during recess were quantified using heart rate telemetry and accelerometry at baseline, 6 weeks and 6 months following the playground redesign intervention. Data were collected between July 2003 and January 2005 and analyzed using multilevel modeling.

Results : Statistically significant intervention effects were found across time for moderate-to-vigorous and vigorous physical activity assessed using both heart rate and accelerometry.

Conclusions : The results suggest that a playground redesign, which utilizes multicolor playground markings and physical structures, is a suitable stimulus for increasing children's school recess physical activity levels.

History

Journal

Preventive medicine

Volume

44

Issue

5

Pagination

393 - 397

Publisher

Elsevier Inc.

Location

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

ISSN

0091-7435

eISSN

1096-0260

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2007, Elsevier

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