equipment). In analyzing the data, Gubbels and colleagues found that the majority of children’s activity was sedentary (59.4% of indoor activity and 31.2% of outdoor activity), however, children’s physical activity levels were more intense outdoors, with 21.3% of activity being classified as moderate to vigorous as compared to 5.5% of activity indoors. With regard to the relationship between children’s physical activity and social and physical environment factors, Gubbels and colleagues found that more activity opportunities in the physical environment (both indoors and outdoors) and physical activity prompts by staff (outdoors) and peers (indoors) were related to higher activity intensities, while larger group size was related to lower activity intensities. In addition, researchers discovered that the social environment interacts with the physical environment to influence children’s physical activity intensity. For example, Gubbels and colleagues found that the outdoor physical environment influenced children’s physical activity only when children engaged in an activity with multiple other peers and that positive physical activity prompts from peers more positively impacted boys’ outdoor physical activity. This study, while potentially limited due to its small sample size and reliance on observational data, demonstrates the value of examining physical and social environmental factors and highlights the importance of including child-care environments in efforts to improve children’s physical activity levels and prevent childhood obesity. Author Affiliation: Jessica Gubbels is with Maastricht University Medical Center in the Netherlands. Country where research was conducted: Netherlands. C&NN Research Volume 5 Gubbels, J. S., Kremers, S. P. J., van Kann, D. H. H., Stafleu, A., Candel, M. J. J. M., Dagnelie, P. C., et al. (2011). Interaction between physical environment, social environment, and child characteristics in determining physical activity at child care. Health Psychology, 30(1), 84. This article may be available in a library near you or can be purchased online through the publisher at: http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/hea/30/1/84/
Children with higher levels of independent mobility participate more in a range of physical activities Children’s physical activity behavior may vary based on context (e.g., whether it is school based exercise or active commuting to school). In this study, Page and colleagues investigated whether children’s independent mobility (children’s ability to move around their neighborhood on their own), perceptions of the environment, and distance from home to school were related to the frequency with which they participated in three different types of physical activity—outdoor play, structured exercises and sports, and active commuting to school. Researchers used data from a large study of over 1,300 10- to 11-year-old children from 23 schools in a large UK city. As part of the study, children completed computerized questionnaires about their outdoor play, exercise/sport activity, and travel from home to school, as well as their independent mobility and perceptions of their environment. Researchers examined children’s local (travel to best friend’s house, local shops, and park or playground) as well as area (travel to swimming pool, library, cinema, arcade, bus stop, sports and shopping center) independent mobility. In analyzing the data, Page and colleagues found that boys reported taking part significantly more often in outdoor play and exercise/sport activities than girls. Researchers also found that boys had significantly higher local independent mobility and perceptions of personal and traffic safety
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