Not All Play Equipment Is Created Equal: Associations Between Equipment at Home and Children’s Physical Activity

Moss, Katrina M.; Dobson, Annette J.; Edwards, Kimberley; Hesketh, Kylie D.; Chang, Yung-Ting; Mishra, Gita D.

Abstract

Background: Play equipment at home could be targeted in interventions to increase children’s physical activity (PA), but evidence is mixed, potentially because current methods do not reflect children’s lived experience. This study investigated associations between combinations of equipment and PA. Methods: Data were from the Mothers and their Children’s Health study and the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health. Mothers (n = 2409) indicated the types of fixed active (eg, trampolines), portable active (eg, bicycles), and electronic (eg, computers) equipment at home, and the number of days children (n = 4092, aged 5–12 y, 51% boys) met PA guidelines. Latent class analysis was used to identify combinations of equipment, and linear regressions were used to investigate associations with PA. Results: Compared with children with high active (fixed and portable) and medium electronic equipment, children with portable active and medium (B = −0.53; 95% confidence interval, −0.72 to −0.34) or high (B = −0.58; 95% confidence interval, −0.83 to −0.33) electronic equipment met the guidelines on fewer days. Children with similar active equipment (but more electronic equipment) met the PA guidelines on fewer days (mean difference = −0.51, SE = 0.14, P = .002). Conclusion: Having the right combination of play equipment at home may be important for children’s PA.

Citation

Moss, K. M., Dobson, A. J., Edwards, K., Hesketh, K. D., Chang, Y.-T., & Mishra, G. D. (2019). Not All Play Equipment Is Created Equal: Associations Between Equipment at Home and Children’s Physical Activity. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 16(11), 945-951. https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2019-0075

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 1, 2019
• Publication Date: Nov 1, 2019
• Deposit Date: Jul 12, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 12, 2019
• Journal: Journal of Physical Activity and Health
• Print ISSN: 1543-3080
• Electronic ISSN: 1543-5474
• Publisher: Human Kinetics
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 11
• Pages: 945-951
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2019-0075
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2302709
• Publisher URL: https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/jpah/aop/article-10.1123-jpah.2019-0075.xml
• Additional Information: Accepted author manuscript version reprinted, by permission, from Journal of Physical Activity and Health , 2019, : volume 16, issue 11, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2019-0075. © Human Kinetics, Inc.
• Contract Date: Jul 12, 2019