Day length and weather effects on children's physical activity and participation in play, sports, and active travel.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Children in primary school are more physically active in the spring/summer. Little is known about the relative contributions of day length and weather, however, or about the underlying behavioral mediators.

Methods

325 British children aged 8 to 11 wore accelerometers as an objective measure of physical activity, measured in terms of mean activity counts. Children simultaneously completed diaries in which we identified episodes of out-of-home play, structured sports, and active travel. Our main exposure measures were day length, temperature, rainfall, cloud cover, and wind speed.

Results

Overall physical activity was higher on long days (≥ 14 hours daylight), but there was no difference between short (< 9.5 hours) and medium days (10.2-12.6 hours). The effe

SUBMITTER: Goodman A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3584676 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature