Outdoor physical activity in traditional and newly designed preschools: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Outdoor time and play are crucial for children's learning and development, impacting various physical, cognitive, and social aspects of their well-being and socio-emotional growth. In Sweden, new preschools are increasingly built as multi-story facilities, accommodating larger cohorts of children while often reducing outdoor space. This trend raises concerns about the quality of outdoor environments and their impact on physical activity (PA) opportunities. This study aims to explore outdoor total PA and PA levels among children in traditionally and newly designed preschools across varied outdoor play environments. The primary research question was: How does total outdoor PA differ among children attending traditionally designed versus newly designed preschools, and across different types of outdoor play environments? The hypothesis was that children's total outdoor PA is higher in preschools with higher-quality outdoor play environments, and, among preschools of similar quality, those with traditional designs are associated with higher PA levels than newly designed ones. The secondary research question was: How do outdoor PA levels differ among children attending traditionally designed versus newly designed preschools? The hypothesis was that children attending traditionally designed preschools engage in higher levels of outdoor PA than those attending newly designed preschools.

Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 106 children aged 3-5-year-olds from six (3 traditional and 3 newly designed) strategically selected preschools in Sweden. Data for total PA was collected with accelerometers (ActiGraph GT3X+) among 106 children. Data for PA level (n = 371 observations) was collected through observations. The preschool outdoor play environments were assessed using the Outdoor Play Environment Categories (OPEC). Multiple regression was used to assess how preschool type (traditional/newly designed) and OPEC predicted total PA. Chi-square test was used to explore differences in PA levels.

Results: The result showed that children in newly designed preschools (p = 0.019 for forenoon and p = 0.049 for afternoon) and children in preschools with higher OPEC (p < 0.001 for forenoon and p < 0.001 for afternoon) had higher outdoor total PA than their children peers. In contrast, observations showed that PA levels differed among children in traditional and newly designed preschools (p = 0.005), with those at traditional preschools having higher proportions of moderate movements.

Conclusions: The present study showed that children in newly designed preschools, and children in preschools with higher-quality outdoor play environment, had higher outdoor total PA than their children peers. In addition, that children in traditional preschools had higher proportions of moderate movements compared to newly designed preschools. These results emphasise the importance of balancing environmental design and unstructured PAs to support diverse and engaging outdoor PA opportunities for children. Further studies should explore how social dynamics, spatial organization, and activity flow within newly designed preschools across different outdoor play environments contribute to higher total PA and different PA levels among children.

Keywords: Environmental; Outdoor education; Physical activity; Play environments; Preschool.

Fig. 1

Photos from a typical preschool with a more traditional design, often older preschools (top, left and right) and a typical preschool with a more modern design, often newer preschools (bottom, left and right) included as part of the research project

Fig. 2

Flow-chart: Part 1 shows the total number of preschools involved in the research project, the selected sub-sample, and the number of preschools excluded and included in the present study. Part 2 displays the total number of children in the selected sub-sample of preschools, along with the number of children included and excluded (Abbreviations: AN, Afternoon; FN, Forenoon; NPs, preschools with a more modern design, often newer preschools; OPs, preschools with a more traditional design, often older preschools)