Lois Brink

Influence of Schoolyard Renovations on Children's Physical Activity: The Learning Landscapes Program

OBJECTIVES We examined whether schoolyard improvements led to increased physical activity levels among both boys and girls and assessed the aspects of schoolyard design that have an impact on physical activity. METHODS In a quasi-experimental research design, 6 schools with renovated schoolyards and 3 control schools were divided into activity areas. We calculated measures of childrens physical activity by area during school hours as well as after-school hours. RESULTS The volume of schoolyard use was significantly higher at schools with renovated schoolyards than at control schools, and students were significantly more active at these schools. Also, activity levels were significantly higher among both boys and girls in certain schoolyard areas, such as those with soft surfaces. CONCLUSIONS Because few public elementary schools in the United States provide daily physical education or its equivalent for all students throughout the school year, noncurriculum approaches to increasing childrens physical activity are important. Renovated schoolyards increase the number of children who are physically active, as well as their overall activity levels, and reduce sedentary behaviors.

An assessment of schoolyard renovation strategies to encourage children's physical activity

BackgroundChildren in poor and minority neighborhoods often lack adequate environmental support for healthy physical development and community interventions designed to improve physical activity resources serve as an important approach to addressing obesity. In Denver, the Learning Landscapes (LL) program has constructed over 98 culturally-tailored schoolyard play spaces at elementary schools with the goal to encourage utilization of play spaces and physical activity. In spite of enthusiasm about such projects to improve urban environments, little work has evaluated their impact or success in achieving their stated objectives. This study evaluates the impacts of LL construction and recency of renovation on schoolyard utilization and the physical activity rates of children, both during and outside of school, using an observational study design.MethodsThis study employs a quantitative method for evaluating levels of physical activity of individuals and associated environmental characteristics in play and leisure environments. Schools were selected on the basis of their participation in the LL program, the recency of schoolyard renovation, the size of the school, and the social and demographic characteristics of the school population. Activity in the schoolyards was measured using the System for Observing Play and Leisure Activity (SOPLAY), a validated quantitative method for evaluating levels of physical activity of individuals in play and leisure environments. Trained observers collected measurements before school, during school recess, after school, and on weekends. Overall utilization (the total number of children observed on the grounds) and the rate of activity (the percentage of children observed who were physically active) were analyzed. Observations were compared using t-tests and the data were stratified by gender for further analysis. In order to assess the impacts of LL renovation, recently-constructed LL schoolyards were compared to LL schoolyards with older construction, as well as un-renovated schoolyards.ResultsOverall utilization was significantly higher at LL schools than at un-renovated schools for most observation periods. Notably, LL renovation had no impact on girls utilization on the weekends, although differences were observed for all other periods. There were no differences in rates of activity for any comparison. With the exception of the number of boys observed, there was no statistically significant difference in activity when recently-constructed LL schools are compared to LL schools with older construction dates and there was no difference observed in comparisons of older LL with unrenovated sites.ConclusionsWhile we observed greater utilization and physical activity in schools with LL, the impact of specific features of LL renovation is not clear. However, schoolyard renovation and programs to encourage schoolyard use before and after school may offer a means to encourage greater physical activity among children, and girls in particular. Additional study of schoolyard renovation may shed light on the specific reasons for these findings or suggest effective policies to improve the physical activity resources of poor and minority neighborhoods.

An Assessment of Schoolyard Features and Behavior Patterns in Children's Utilization and Physical Activity

BACKGROUND Careful research that elucidates how behavior relates to design in the context of elementary school grounds can serve to guide cost-efficient design with the goal of encouraging physical activity (PA). This work explores patterns in childrens PA behavior within playground spaces with the specific goal of guiding healthy playground design. METHODS Data on childrens utilization and PA behavior in 6 playgrounds divided into 106 observation zones were collected in 2005 and 2006 at Denver elementary school playgrounds using the System for Observing Play and Leisure Activity in Youth. Analyses of variance and t tests determined whether there were differences in utilization and behavior patterns across observations zones and between genders. RESULTS This study provides evidence that children prefer to use certain types of playground zones and that they are more likely to practice moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in some zones. The authors observed statistically significant differences between genders. Boys were more likely to engage in MVPA in zones without equipment, girls were more likely to use zones with equipment. CONCLUSIONS This work suggests that the inclusion or omission of specific playground features may have an impact on the way that children use the spaces.

Accuracy of self-reported height and weight in children aged 6 to 11 years.

The purpose of this study was to determine the ability of first-, third-, and fifth-graders to accurately self-report height and weight. Self-reported and measured values for height and weight were recorded for 487 students. The ability to self-report a reasonable value for height and weight improved with grade level, but children in all 3 grade levels significantly underreported their height and weight. Only fifth-graders accurately self-reported their weight; therefore, using self-reported height and weight to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity for elementary school–aged children is not recommended.

Establishing and evaluating wrist cutpoints for the GENEActiv accelerometer in youth.

PURPOSE This study aimed to establish physical activity (PA) intensity cutpoints for a wrist-mounted GENEActiv accelerometer (ACC) in elementary school-age children. A second purpose was to apply cutpoints to a free-living sample and examine the duration of PA based on continuous 1-s epochs. METHODS Metabolic and ACC data were collected during nine typical activities in 24 children age 6-11 yr. Measured VO2 values were divided by Schofield-estimated resting values to determine METs. ACC data were collected at 75 Hz, band pass filtered, and averaged over each 1-s interval. Receiver operator characteristic curves were used to establish cutpoints at sedentary (≤ 1.5 METs), light (1.6-2.99 METs), moderate (3.0-5.99 METs), and vigorous (≥ 6 METs) activities. These cutpoints were applied to a free-living independent data set to quantify the amount of moderate-vigorous PA (MVPA) and to examine how bout length (1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 15, and 60 s) affected the accumulation of MVPA. RESULTS Receiver operator characteristic yielded areas under the curve of 0.956, 0.946, and 0.940 for sedentary, moderate, and vigorous intensities, respectively. Cutpoints for sedentary, moderate, and vigorous intensities were 0.190 g, 0.314 g, and 0.998 g, respectively. Intensity classification accuracies ranged from 27.6% (light) to 88.7% (vigorous) when cutpoints were applied to the calibration data. When applied to free-living data (n = 47 children age 6-11 yr), estimated daily MVPA was 308 min and decreased to 14.3 min when only including 1-min periods of continuous MVPA. CONCLUSIONS Cutpoints that quantify movements associated with moderate-vigorous intensity, when applied to a laboratory protocol, result in large amounts of accumulated MVPA using the 1-s epoch compared to prior studies, highlighting the need for representative calibration activities and free-living validation of cutpoints and epoch length selection.

A Microgeographic Analysis of Physical Activity Behavior within Elementary School Grounds

Purpose. There is little scholarship on physical activity among children within outdoor spaces and work is needed to advance the design of these spaces from “best practices” towards evidence-based design. This project examined how playground feature density relates to childrens physical activity. Design. We used the System for Observing Play and Leisure Activity to observe childrens physical activity. Setting. We observed children during school recess on 24 school grounds in the Denver metropolitan area of Colorado, in spring of 2010 and 2011. Subjects. A total of 31,069 observations were made from an estimated 9900 children aged 5 to 12. These were aggregated and analyzed in 397 playground zones. Measures. We examined utilization, the number of children present in a particular activity zone during an observation, and the percentage of children engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity as they relate to the density of constructed features on school playgrounds. Analysis. Ordinary least-squares linear regression model assessed the relationship between playground feature density and the utilization and moderate to vigorous physical activity. Results. Significant positive associations were observed between utilization and feature density among all children (β = .20; p < .001) and a statistically significant but small association was observed between moderate to vigorous physical activity and feature density for girls (β = .12; p = .013), but not for boys. Conclusion. This analysis contributes to evidence that design features of play spaces may influence childrens behavior within school grounds.