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The more grass kids have to play on at school, the more active they are.This is what Dr Karen Martin and her team from the School of Population Health discovered in their year-long study of more than 400 Year Six students in 27 government-funded Perth primary schools.

Their findings are published in this month’s issue of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health .

Dr Martin, who has a 14 year-old daughter and a 12 year-old son, studied school environments and their association with physical activity during school recess.

“Children who are more active have better physical and mental health than those who are less active,” she said.

“Research shows that in Western societies such as ours, most children over nine fail to meet physical activity guidelines, with just 40 per cent of nine to 13-year olds meeting the Australian recommendation of 60 minutes’ physical activity a day.

“Schools provide a unique setting in which to increase children’s physical activity. Yet, during recess, many children are sedentary or not being very active.”

During the study, each child wore an accelerometer (which measures the intensity of activity) and their body mass index (BMI) was recorded.

There was a clear correlation between the amount of grass and the level of physical activity of each child.

“This supports previous research that also found the availability of open fields was associated with higher physical activity,” Dr Martin said.

“Expansive and unobstructed grassed surfaces are ideal for children’s sports and games.”

Dr Martin said because the study examined kids movement during recess (morning and lunch breaks), sports and games such as skipping, four-square (or kingball) and tag also counted as physical activity.

“The results indicate that the amount of grassed play area available is an important variable to consider during school planning,” Dr Martin said.

“We also found that children attending schools with a physically active PE coordinator participated in significantly more physical activity per day and that a physically active PE coordinator provides a positive role model for children.

“The benefits of childhood physical activity transcend childhood and adolescence and include a reduced risk of being overweight or obese.”

Dr Martin said children who believed they were ‘bad at sport’ and those who were overweight or obese tended to be less physically active during recess. She said it was important that schools consider encouraging appropriate and noncompetitive games and options such as dancing or tennis for those students, as well as encouraging them to safely walk or cycle to school.

“I’d like to thank the WA Department of Education and Healthway for their support for this study,” she said.

Dr Martin said her previous research had shown that before Year Six, children are still having similar playground fun to their parents and grandparents, with hopscotch, chasey and hide-and-seek popular.

Published in UWA News , 29 October 2012