Skolegårdens betydning for børns daglige fysiske aktivitet

Abstract

School grounds and children’s daily physical activityThis study investigates the influence of school playgrounds on children’s daily physical activity by combining results of comparable studies on children’s physical activity and playground facilities in two suburban municipalities in Denmark and in seven rural communities in New Zealand. Physical activity data were obtained using accelerometers and related to the number of permanent play facilities in school grounds. Children had high levels of physical activity during organized sports and PE as well as during recess and after school daycare. However boys had higher levels of self-organized physical activity during school recess and afterschool daycare resulting in a higher total amount of activity. In both studies the number of play facilities in the school grounds was positively associated with all measures of children’s amounts of activity, independent of gender and socioeconomic background. Increasing the number of play facilities in primary school playgrounds may increase the level of children’s daily physical activity.