Abstract
BackgroundActive play and physical activity are important for preventing childhood obesity, building healthy bones and muscles, reducing anxiety and stress, and increasing self-esteem. Unfortunately, safe and accessible play places are often lacking in under-resourced communities. Play Streets (temporary closure of streets) are an understudied intervention that provide safe places for children, adolescents, and their families to actively play. This systematic review examines how Play Streets impact opportunities for children and adolescents to engage in safe active play and physical activity, and for communities and neighborhoods. Methods for evaluating Play Streets were also examined.MethodsA systematic literature review was conducted in Academic Search Complete, CINHAL, PsycINFO, PubMED, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Peer-reviewed intervention studies published worldwide were included if they were published in English, through December 2017 and documented free-to-access Play Streets or other temporary spaces that incorporated a designated area for children and/or adolescents to engage in active play. Systematic data extraction documented sample, implementation, and measurement characteristics and outcomes.ResultsOf 180 reviewed abstracts, 6 studies met inclusion criteria. Studies were conducted in five different countries (n = 2 in U.S.), using mostly cross-sectional study designs (n = 4). Physical activity outcomes were measured in half of the studies; one used observational and self-report measures, and two used device-based and self-report measures. In general, Play Streets provided safe places for child play, increased sense of community, and when measured, data suggest increased physical activity overall and during Play Streets.ConclusionsPlay Streets can create safe places for children to actively play, with promise of increasing physical activity and strengthening community. Given the popularity of Play Streets and the potential impact for active play, physical activity, and community level benefits, more rigorous evaluations and systematic reporting of Play Streets’ evaluations are needed.
Highlights
Active play and physical activity are important for preventing childhood obesity, building healthy bones and muscles, reducing anxiety and stress, and increasing self-esteem
Seven Ciclovía or Open Street events mentioned having activity hubs/areas that could have included an area with active play opportunities for children or adolescents; none of these papers included enough detail to determine if this occurred, and were excluded from this review [24, 35,36,37,38,39,40]
Additional articles were excluded if an intervention was not implemented, if children or adolescents were excluded, if the event was not temporary, and if the study was not offered in a modern timeframe
Summary
Active play and physical activity are important for preventing childhood obesity, building healthy bones and muscles, reducing anxiety and stress, and increasing self-esteem. This systematic review examines how Play Streets impact opportunities for children and adolescents to engage in safe active play and physical activity, and for communities and neighborhoods. Physical activity is an important determinant of obesity risk, which is a major public health problem in school-aged children in the United States (U.S.) and globally [1, 2]. Regular physical activity in childhood and adolescence helps build healthy bones and muscles, reduces anxiety and stress, increases self-esteem, and may improve blood pressure and cholesterol levels [4]. Vigorous aerobic, muscle-strengthening, and bone-strengthening physical activity should be incorporated as part of the required 60 min or more at least 3 days a week [3, 4]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
