SynthesisThe international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity2014
The value of (pre)school playgrounds for children's physical activity level: a systematic review.
Synthesis in The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 45 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
45 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 149 citations in OpenAlex.
- How can physical enrichment of school playgrounds improve movement behaviours and developmental outcomes in children and adolescents? A systematic review with meta-analysis.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025Pooled it
- Which behaviour change techniques are associated with interventions that increase physical activity in pre-school children? A systematic review.BMC public health · 2023Pooled it
- Correlates of Physical Activity in 0- to 5-year-olds: A Systematic Umbrella Review and Consultation of International Researchers.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2023Pooled it
- Barriers and facilitators of domain-specific physical activity: a systematic review of reviews.BMC public health · 2022Pooled it
- The Effects of Playground Interventions on Accelerometer-Assessed Physical Activity in Pediatric Populations: A Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Interventions to Improve Child Physical Activity in the Early Childhood Education and Care Setting: An Umbrella Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Barriers and facilitators influencing the sustainment of health behaviour interventions in schools and childcare services: a systematic review.Implementation science : IS · 2021Pooled it
- The evidence for the impact of policy on physical activity outcomes within the school setting: A systematic review.Journal of sport and health science · 2021Pooled it
- Interventions to Change School Recess Activity Levels in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2020Pooled it
- The Effects of the PLAYTOD Program on Children's Physical Activity at Preschool Playgrounds in a Deprived Urban Area: A Randomized Controlled Trial.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Trial
- Feasibility and effectiveness of two built environmental interventions on physical activity among 3-5-year-old preschoolers.Journal for specialists in pediatric nursing : JSPN · 2019Trial
- Active Living: development and quasi-experimental evaluation of a school-centered physical activity intervention for primary school children.BMC public health · 2015Trial
- Reconstructing schoolyards with greenery to increase schoolchildren's physical activity and mitigate climate changes in urban areas: study protocol for a stepped-wedge trial.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Participatory design of built environment strategies to enhance movement, wellbeing, and quality of life among incarcerated men.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2026Article
- Do Playgrounds Help Develop Children's Fundamental Movement Skills? Using Direct Video Observations to Investigate.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Schoolyard Level Inventory for Describing the Environment: Linking High-Resolution Spatiotemporal Data to the Physical Environment to Understand Children's Physical Activity Behaviors.The Journal of school health · 2025Article
- "We just have to work with what we've got": a qualitative analysis of contextual challenges in facilities and resources for pupil physical activity in English primary schools.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Profiles of Primary School Children's Sports Participation and Their Motor Competencies.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Effective Nature-Based Outdoor Play and Learning Environments for below-3 Children: A Literature-Based Summary.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Review
- Modifying urban planning to promote child health: A scoping review of reviews.Health promotion perspectives · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The (pre)school environment is an important setting to improve children's health. Especially, the (pre)school playground provides a major opportunity to intervene. This review presents an overview of the existing evidence on the value of both school and preschool playgrounds on children's health in terms of physical activity, cognitive and social outcomes. In addition, we aimed to identify which playground characteristics are the strongest correlates of beneficial effects and for which subgroups of children effects are most distinct. In total, 13 experimental and 17 observational studies have been summarized of which 10 (77%) and 16 (94%) demonstrated moderate to high methodological quality, respectively. Nearly all experimental studies (n = 11) evaluated intervention effects on time spent in different levels of physical activity during recess. Research on the effects of (pre)school playgrounds on cognitive and social outcomes is scarce (n = 2). The experimental studies generated moderate evidence for an effect of the provision of play equipment, inconclusive evidence for an effect of the use of playground markings, allocating play space and for multi-component interventions, and no evidence for an effect of decreasing playground density, the promotion of physical activity by staff and increasing recess duration on children's health. In line with this, observational studies showed positive associations between play equipment and children's physical activity level. In contrast to experimental studies, significant associations were also found between children's physical activity and a decreased playground density and increased recess duration. To confirm the findings of this review, researchers are advised to conduct more experimental studies with a randomized controlled design and to incorporate the assessment of implementation strategies and process evaluations to reveal which intervention strategies and playground characteristics are most effective.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.