“Preschool outdoor play environment may combine promotion of children’s physical activity and sun protection. Further evidence from Southern Sweden and North Carolina”. Science & Sports, 26, 72-82.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of the outdoor play environment of daycare centres on the children’s physical level of activity, and to what degree the outdoor play environment exposes the children to radiation from the sun.

The study showed that vegetation, i.e. trees and shrubs, integrated into the outdoor play environment at the daycare centres leads to physical activity as well as sun protection for the children, therefore physical activity and sun protection are not unrelated. Thus the study indicates that children’s use of the outdoor play environment leads to sun protection through the children’s own choice of places to play, provided that the outdoor play environment has vegetation that provides options for the children.

Nine daycare centres in Malmö in Sweden were selected for this study. The daycare centres’ outdoor play environments were categorised according to size, terrain and vegetation in order to assess the play potential of the daycare centres. At total of 169 children were equipped with pedometers to measure the children’s physical level of activity and with dosimeters which are devices to measure a person’s exposure to radiation from the sun.

Boldemann, C., Dal, H., Mårtensson, F., Cosco, N., Moore, R., Bieber, B., Blennow, M., Pagels, P., Raustorp, A., Wester, U. & Söderström, M. (2011). “Preschool outdoor play environment may combine promotion of children’s physical activity and sun protection. Further evidence from Southern Sweden and North Carolina”. Science & Sports, 26, 72-82.