School playground equipment impacts physical activity levels

Schools looking to make children more active simply need to provide more balls, skipping ropes, racquets and hoola hoops, a new study has shown.

The study based on 3,006 students from 23 Melbourne primary schools, featured in the March 2010 issue of The Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport (JSAMS), published by Sports Medicine Australia, investigated the relationship between school playground characteristics and child activity levels.

Results showed a higher availability of loose sports equipment and increased levels of supervision, such as a teacher on yard duty, are associated with higher activity levels.

Bitumen with court/play markings, preferably colour; fixed play equipment such as slides, monkey bars and climbing frames; metal structures compared to wood; and grass surfaces were also associated with increased play.

Lead author, Lisa Willenberg says school environments provide a great opportunity for children to meet physical activity recommendations and need to be utilised accordingly.

“Australian physical activity recommendations for children and young people state they should participate in at least 60 minutes of activity every day, with Australian schools needed to provide two hours of physical activity each week for students,” said Ms Willenberg.

“School playgrounds provide important settings and opportunities for children to engage in activity, as children spend more than one-sixth of the school day in lunch and short breaks.

“This study is a breakthrough in understanding the potential influence of environmental characteristics on children’s lunchtime activity levels and their perceptions of play areas,” said Ms Willenberg.

More boys engaged in vigorous activity while more girls engaged in sedentary activity. Study statistics showed that 44% of the observed children engaged in sedentary behaviour, 30% in moderate physical activity and 27% in vigorous activity.

Co-author, Dr Lisa Gibbs said all schools can take simple steps to create fun and engaging play areas.

“It might be in the form of playground markings, more teachers on yard duty or providing balls for unmarked play areas to make the area more appealing. All these simple changes can provide opportunities for increased physical activity,” said Dr Gibbs.

“The findings will also provide some guidance to researchers, school communities and policy makers about the potential for low cost initiatives to address and hopefully increase child activity levels,” said Dr Gibbs.

This study was part of the broader ‘fun ‘n healthy in Moreland!’ project, which explored children’s perceptions of being fun and healthy in the school environment over a five year period and was funded by the Victorian Government as part of the Go for your life campaign.