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.

Peter Pagels,Maria Kylin,Antonio Ponce De Leon,Cecilia Boldemann,Anders Raustorp,Fredrika Mårtensson

doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-803

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.

Highlights

School children are confined to and exposed to outdoor environment that happens to be at their disposal during compulsory school time
Based on this knowledge there is evidence suggesting that children should be engaged in at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) on most days of the week to promote health benefits to be sustained into adulthood [1,2,11]
At Art Grass 1 and Forest 2 pupils could extend their activities beyond the “formal” school yard during outdoor stay, whereas City 3 and Hill 4 were surrounded by streets, houses and traffic

Summary

Introduction

School children are confined to and exposed to outdoor environment that happens to be at their disposal during compulsory school time. 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. Diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer [8,9,10] Based on this knowledge there is evidence suggesting that children should be engaged in at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) on most days of the week to promote health benefits to be sustained into adulthood [1,2,11]. A clear drop in PA between 9 and 17 years will make healthy levels of physical activity even more remote [14]

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