Associations between the home yard and preschoolers’ outdoor play and physical activity
Objectives and importance of study: Young children’s outdoor play mostly occurs within the home-yard space, yet the influence of the home yard on preschoolers’ outdoor play and physical activity is poorly understood. We investigated the relationships between home-yard features and home-based outdoor...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Sax Institute
2019-03-01
|
| Series: | Public Health Research & Practice |
| _version_ | 1819278086324092928 |
|---|---|
| author | Guy P Armstrong Clover Maitland Leanne Lester Stewart G Trost Gina Trapp Bryan Boruff Mohamed K Al Marzooqi Hayley E Christian |
| author_facet | Guy P Armstrong Clover Maitland Leanne Lester Stewart G Trost Gina Trapp Bryan Boruff Mohamed K Al Marzooqi Hayley E Christian |
| author_sort | Guy P Armstrong |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objectives and importance of study: Young children’s outdoor play mostly occurs within the home-yard space, yet the influence of the home yard on preschoolers’ outdoor play and physical activity is poorly understood. We investigated the relationships between home-yard features and home-based outdoor play and physical activity in preschoolers (2–5 years old).
Study type: Cross-sectional observational study.
Methods: The PLAY Spaces and Environments for Children’s Physical Activity (PLAYCE) study (2015–2017) included 1596 children aged 2–5 years attending early childhood education and care (ECEC) services throughout metropolitan Perth, Western Australia. In this study, a subsample of 224 parents from the PLAYCE study completed an online questionnaire about home-yard features (yard size, lawn quality, natural features, fixed and portable play equipment, and flowers and vegetables/herbs). Accelerometers measured the duration of preschoolers’ moderate–vigorous physical activity (MVPA) on non-ECEC days. Parent-reported outdoor play at home, sociodemographic factors and social environment factors were collected via the PLAYCE parent survey. Multiple linear regression models were used to determine associations between home-yard features and preschoolers’ outdoor play and physical activity.
Results: Children spent 68.9 (SD 2.2) minutes playing outdoors in the home yard per day, and 93.3 (SD 37.1) minutes in MVPA per day on non-ECEC days. After adjusting for child and parent factors, home-yard features positively associated with outdoor play included yard size, lawn quality, number of types of fixed and portable play equipment, natural features and play areas (all p ≤ 0.05). When all significant home-yard features were placed in a model, only the number of types of fixed play equipment was positively associated with minutes of outdoor play per day (β = 5.3, p < 0.001). After adjusting for sociodemographic factors, the number of types of portable play equipment in the yard was positively associated with MVPA minutes per day (β = 2.16, p = 0.019); however, this became nonsignificant after further adjusting for social environment factors.
Conclusions: Features of the home-yard physical environment were positively associated with preschoolers’ outdoor play and physical activity. Each additional type of fixed play equipment present was associated with an additional 5 minutes of outdoor play per day. These findings suggest that the home-yard space has the potential to facilitate increased outdoor play in young children. Further research is warranted to explore causal relationships between home-yard attributes and young children’s outdoor play and physical activity. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-24T00:06:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-034eb4903ebe4304b7d4cc4ce948300e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2204-2091 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-24T00:06:25Z |
| publishDate | 2019-03-01 |
| publisher | Sax Institute |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Public Health Research & Practice |
| spelling | doaj.art-034eb4903ebe4304b7d4cc4ce948300e2022-12-21T17:25:00ZengSax InstitutePublic Health Research & Practice2204-20912019-03-0129110.17061/phrp2911907Associations between the home yard and preschoolers’ outdoor play and physical activityGuy P Armstrong0Clover Maitland1Leanne Lester 2Stewart G Trost3Gina Trapp4Bryan Boruff 5Mohamed K Al Marzooqi 6Hayley E Christian7School of Population and Global Health, University of Western Australia, Perth School of Human Sciences (Exercise and Sport Science), University of Western Australia, Perth; Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia School of Human Sciences (Exercise and Sport Science), University of Western Australia, Perth Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Centre for Children’s Health Research, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia School of Population and Global Health, University of Western Australia, Perth; Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth School of Agriculture and Environment, University of Western Australia, Perth School of Population and Global Health, University of Western Australia, Perth School of Population and Global Health, University of Western Australia, Perth; Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth Objectives and importance of study: Young children’s outdoor play mostly occurs within the home-yard space, yet the influence of the home yard on preschoolers’ outdoor play and physical activity is poorly understood. We investigated the relationships between home-yard features and home-based outdoor play and physical activity in preschoolers (2–5 years old). Study type: Cross-sectional observational study. Methods: The PLAY Spaces and Environments for Children’s Physical Activity (PLAYCE) study (2015–2017) included 1596 children aged 2–5 years attending early childhood education and care (ECEC) services throughout metropolitan Perth, Western Australia. In this study, a subsample of 224 parents from the PLAYCE study completed an online questionnaire about home-yard features (yard size, lawn quality, natural features, fixed and portable play equipment, and flowers and vegetables/herbs). Accelerometers measured the duration of preschoolers’ moderate–vigorous physical activity (MVPA) on non-ECEC days. Parent-reported outdoor play at home, sociodemographic factors and social environment factors were collected via the PLAYCE parent survey. Multiple linear regression models were used to determine associations between home-yard features and preschoolers’ outdoor play and physical activity. Results: Children spent 68.9 (SD 2.2) minutes playing outdoors in the home yard per day, and 93.3 (SD 37.1) minutes in MVPA per day on non-ECEC days. After adjusting for child and parent factors, home-yard features positively associated with outdoor play included yard size, lawn quality, number of types of fixed and portable play equipment, natural features and play areas (all p ≤ 0.05). When all significant home-yard features were placed in a model, only the number of types of fixed play equipment was positively associated with minutes of outdoor play per day (β = 5.3, p < 0.001). After adjusting for sociodemographic factors, the number of types of portable play equipment in the yard was positively associated with MVPA minutes per day (β = 2.16, p = 0.019); however, this became nonsignificant after further adjusting for social environment factors. Conclusions: Features of the home-yard physical environment were positively associated with preschoolers’ outdoor play and physical activity. Each additional type of fixed play equipment present was associated with an additional 5 minutes of outdoor play per day. These findings suggest that the home-yard space has the potential to facilitate increased outdoor play in young children. Further research is warranted to explore causal relationships between home-yard attributes and young children’s outdoor play and physical activity. |
| spellingShingle | Guy P Armstrong Clover Maitland Leanne Lester Stewart G Trost Gina Trapp Bryan Boruff Mohamed K Al Marzooqi Hayley E Christian Associations between the home yard and preschoolers’ outdoor play and physical activity Public Health Research & Practice |
| title | Associations between the home yard and preschoolers’ outdoor play and physical activity |
| title_full | Associations between the home yard and preschoolers’ outdoor play and physical activity |
| title_fullStr | Associations between the home yard and preschoolers’ outdoor play and physical activity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Associations between the home yard and preschoolers’ outdoor play and physical activity |
| title_short | Associations between the home yard and preschoolers’ outdoor play and physical activity |
| title_sort | associations between the home yard and preschoolers outdoor play and physical activity |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT guyparmstrong associationsbetweenthehomeyardandpreschoolersoutdoorplayandphysicalactivity AT clovermaitland associationsbetweenthehomeyardandpreschoolersoutdoorplayandphysicalactivity AT leannelester associationsbetweenthehomeyardandpreschoolersoutdoorplayandphysicalactivity AT stewartgtrost associationsbetweenthehomeyardandpreschoolersoutdoorplayandphysicalactivity AT ginatrapp associationsbetweenthehomeyardandpreschoolersoutdoorplayandphysicalactivity AT bryanboruff associationsbetweenthehomeyardandpreschoolersoutdoorplayandphysicalactivity AT mohamedkalmarzooqi associationsbetweenthehomeyardandpreschoolersoutdoorplayandphysicalactivity AT hayleyechristian associationsbetweenthehomeyardandpreschoolersoutdoorplayandphysicalactivity |