This study examined changes over a two-year period in the locations where children are active and the amount of time they engage in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The aim was to better understand how to promote the health of children by increasing their activity levels.
The study was based on data gathered at two points in time and included 584 children living in the metropolitan areas of San Diego and Seattle. The children were between the ages of 6 and 12 for the first data-collection period. They wore accelerometers for seven days each time to measure their activity levels, which were then categorized as sedentary, light, moderate, or vigorous. Parents completed daily logs indicating the locations of their children while wearing the accelerometers. The accelerometer readings were then linked to the daily logs. This allowed the researchers to determine in what locations the children were most active.
Results indicated that children did not significantly change the amount of time they spent in various locations over time. However, the amount of time the spent being physically active did decrease with age in all locations, especially those locations that would be most conducive to MVPA, such as outdoor parks. Children who spent time outdoors in their neighborhood tended to be more physically active, However, in general, children tended to spend relatively little time outdoors in the neighborhoods. Additionally, as children got older, they spent more time in their homes, others' homes, outdoor parks and indoor recreation areas, however, while there, they spent less time then they previously had in MVPA.
Based on these findings, the authors recommend that health intervention measures should encourage more outside time in the neighborhood, as this is where children tend to engage in the most MVPA. For city planners, this recommendation calls for attention to certain aspects of the built environment which promote more time outdoors, including increased greenness, greater safety measures, and access to recreational facilities such as parks.
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