If You Build It, They Will Play

If we want kids to be more active, we need to build fun playgrounds.

That is the conclusion of Dr. James F. Sallis and his colleagues at San Diego State University in California.

A study of 24 public middle schools in San Diego County revealed that boys and girls who attend schools with enticing play areas and adult supervision were the most physically active.

Conversely, according to the researchers, ''an absence of environmental support was associated with near-zero levels of student physical activity.''

Other findings: Overall, girls were less active than boys, with fewer than two percent of girls and six percent of boys choosing to be physically active during unstructured time.

Source: American Journal of Public Health, 2001; 91, 618-620

This appeared in ACE FitnessMatters, ACE's official magazine.
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