The Influence of Playground Design on Preschoolers’ Physical Activity: A Case Study of Four Australian Preschools

• In Event: Roundtable Session 3
  In Roundtable Session: Environments: Indoors and Outdoors

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between preschool playground design and the quantity of children’s physical activity. This study is timely given that a growing number of children are spending increasing amounts of time in preschools and therefore these sites stand to become important settings for tackling obesity. Scans of children playing on four outdoor Australian playgrounds occurred. The playgrounds differed in design features. A total of 2361 observations of children occurred. Irrespective of playground, almost half of the children observed (46%) were engaged in sedentary behavior. The results differed only slightly among the four preschool playgrounds. The findings add to a growing body of literature that is documenting troublingly low levels of physical activity in preschoolers. The implications are discussed.

Author

• Janet Dyment, University of Tasmania