Updated guidelines for US children and youth
Earlier this month the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released the second edition of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. There are new key guidelines for children ages three through five and updated...Read more
The relationship between play value and outdoor play spaces in Wuhan, China
In the city of Wuhan, improper planning policies and design concepts of residential areas have broken and even destroyed children’s outdoor play spaces, a recent research paper reveals. This has caused some physical and psychological...Read more
Inactive kids at risk of falls and fractures in old age
Sedentary children are more likely to suffer musculoskeletal disorders like osteoporosis in later life making them more prone to debilitating falls and fractures in old age. Brittle bones, fractures and loss of muscle mass and strength...Read more
These child obesity solutions wouldn’t be acceptable for zoo animals
Instead of penning them in and shrinking pizzas, let children play outside with their friends – and not just for the exercise – says children’s play expert Rob Wheway. Obesity is an environmental issue, not a...Read more
Children’s play is not a springboard, it is the water
In this second part of his comment piece about a national project to ‘use play as a springboard into sport’, Adrian Voce suggests that policymakers would serve children better, including the desired aim of increasing...Read more
For children, playing is the adventure
A new pilot project in England, funded by the government sponsored national sports agency, aims to use ‘play as a springboard into sport’. In this first of a two-part blog, Adrian Voce explains why such...Read more
New research highlights impact of street play
Two new reports highlight both the public health and the wider social benefits of children playing out in the streets where they live. Adrian Voce reports. New research, evaluating a three-year scheme funded by the UK...Read more
Health experts urge focus on younger children’s activity
More attention needs to be paid to physical activity levels and the beginning of their decline in children up to the age of 7, according to new medical research. Adrian Voce reports British Journal of Sports Medicine,...Read more
Parents anxious about neighbourhoods restrict children’s outdoor play, finds new study
A study conducted by LSU Health New Orleans School of Public Health has been greeted in the US as the country’s first serious research to find that parents who are concerned about the safety and...Read more
Scottish children ‘among least active’
Scotland has been placed joint last in an international study of physical activity among children. The research found that Scotland had one of the best environments and infrastructure for outdoor play among the 38 nations that...Read more
Beloeil wants to designate some streets play zones for kids
To encourage more residents to be physically active, an off-island Montreal suburb wants to designate some streets as play zones. The City of Beloeil initiative, dubbed “Dans ma rue, on joue” (on my street, we play),...Read more
Parks for teens: 10 features teens want to see
In many parts of the world, park designers have turned to nature play as a way to foster connections to nature, increase social and cooperative play, and facilitate more physical activity. In many instances, these...Read more
Transforming suburbs to promote physical activity
Urban developers and civic leaders in the Netherlands focus their efforts on creating environments that promote opportunities for physical activity and healthy living in the suburban parts of the country. The suburb of Huizum in the northern part of the Netherlands...Read more
Italy’s Giocampus educates children how to improve their healthy lifestyle
Research shows that childrens’ unhealthy lifestyle is considered to be an accelerating trend. In response, a range of lifestyle interventions has been promoted in many Italian schools in an attempt to teach children the basic principles of...Read more