OBJECTIVE An intervention based on induced hypocrisy was conducted to reduce children's intentions to show fall-risk behaviors on playground equipment. METHODS To induce hypocrisy participants (7-12 years) advocated for safe-play behaviors while being made mindful about past failures to play safely on playgrounds. To measure the impact of the intervention, children created posters indicating ...

With concerns increasing around childhood obesity and inactivity, playgrounds offer a chance for children to be active. But playgrounds also have risks, with injuries from falls being the most common. Research has shown that playground injuries can be reduced by lowering the heights of play equipment and using soft, deep surfaces to cushion falls. The Canadian Standards Association has publishe...

OBJECTIVES To assess playground safety and quality in Chicago, Illinois, identify disparities in access, and use the data to inform collaborative improvement. METHODS A cross-sectional survey of public park playgrounds in Chicago, Illinois, was conducted in 2009, 2010, and 2011 by using the National Program for Playground Safety Standardized Survey. All playgrounds were surveyed in 2009 and 2...

BACKGROUND Adequate application of the static and dynamic anthropometric measures of pre-school children in ergonometric design of children's playground equipment should eliminate all dangers and difficulties in their use. Possibilities of injuries, insecure movements, discomfort able positions and some other dangerous actions may be minimized; and safety and health protection of pre-school chi...

BACKGROUND Recess is an opportunity for children to engage in daily physical activity. The aim of this study was to investigate the 12-month effects of a playground intervention on children's moderate-to-vigorous (MVPA) and vigorous physical activity (VPA) during morning and lunchtime recess. METHODS Four hundred and seventy children (232 boys, 238 girls) from 26 elementary schools participat...

OBJECTIVE To assess compliance with current standards of playgrounds where children have sustained a fall-related arm fracture. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS Between October 2000 and December 2002, a consecutive prospective series of 402 children aged under 13 years who fell from playground equipment and sustained an arm fracture was identified by emergency department staff in five Victori...

BACKGROUND The relative number of children meeting the minimal required dose of daily physical activity remains execrably low. It has been estimated that in 2015 one out of five children will be overweight. Therefore, low levels of physical activity during early childhood may compromise the current and future health and well-being of the population, and promoting physical activity in younger ch...

In mechanical studies of pumping a playground swing, two methods of energy insertion have been identified: parametric pumping and driven oscillation. While parametric pumping involves the systematic raising and lowering of the swinger's center of mass (CM) along the swing's radial axis (rope), driven oscillation may be conceived as rotation of the CM around a pivot point at a fixed distance to ...

Game analysis has become much easier by automatic position recording. However, the problem remains how to transfer the astronomic amount of available data to a selection of useful information. Our approach is based on two ideas: Data reduction and pattern recognition. In the first step, by means of SOCCER, the position data of the players of a team are reduced to those of tactical groups like o...

BACKGROUND To investigate whether the number of permanent playground facilities in schools influences objectively measured physical activity. METHODS Physical activity was measured using Actical accelerometers over 2 to 5 days in 417 children (5-12 years) from 7 schools. The number of permanent play facilities likely to encourage physical activity in individuals or groups of children (eg, adv...